


Good Company

by thisdorkyficthing



Category: The Avengers (2012), Thor (2011)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Darcy doesn't get paid enough for this, Darcy the Norse God babysitter, F/M, Humor, Loki is grounded, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-07-23
Updated: 2012-11-19
Packaged: 2017-11-10 13:36:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 28,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/466894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisdorkyficthing/pseuds/thisdorkyficthing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy's life was good. Really good, actually. Good job, cool friends, relatively nice apartment in the city. Then Thor came back to earth, dragging his epic temper tantrum having brother along with him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It had been a little over a year since Loki had tried to take over the world with help from the Chitauri and got his ass thoroughly beaten and dragged back to Asgard via Thor and the tessathingy.

It had been nearly two years since Darcy had graduated college only to find her only solid job offer being one from SHIELD as Jane’s assistant. It was a very strange coincidence that the few other job offers she did have seemed to fall through after a phone interview. But seeing as it was a choice between homelessness or being Jane’s mysterious government agency monkey butler, she chose a long life of monkey butler-y.

At least she got to meet superheros this way. SHIELD had valiantly tried to keep Darcy away from The Avengers for a time, which was quickly deemed pointless seeing as Jane would occaisionally work with Tony Stark(who shamelessly stared at her boobs) or Bruce Banner(who Darcy didn’t recognize at first since he wasn’t the big green meanie at the time). And there was the whole “Jane is Thor’s girlfriend” thing. It was bound to happen.

Her life was good. She liked working with Jane, who never actually made her feel like the monkey butler she was. She got to grab Steve Rodgers butt at SHIELD’s all-inclusive “Holiday Get Together” while shouting “FOR FREEDOM!” at the top of her lungs, which earned her a high five and a hundred bucks from Tony. And she even dated a few SHIELD agents. She loved guys in suits and SHIELD was crawling with them. 

Then one morning, as she walked the long halls of SHEILD, an almost crazed looking Jane came bounding towards her.

“Jane?! What happened?” Darcy asked as her heart began to pound. It was too early for this.

Jane stopped, grabbing Darcy’s shoulders with a vice-like grip and nearly vibrating with excitement and shouted, “he’s back!”

—-

It had been far too long since Loki was locked in an enchanted room that completely suppressed his magic and kept under the watchful eyes of Thor.

Thor had been the only face he’d seen since the All-Father had dealt what, at the time, Loki had thought a fairly light sentence for his crimes. Thor was to deliver Loki all his meals and regularly check on him, which to Loki, seemed just as much a punishment to Thor as it was to him. But Thor being Thor, seemed to relish the time he and Loki were forced to spend together, even when Loki threw barbs at him or just stayed as still and as silent as stone. Thor stayed joyful and would often sit there for hours, retelling stories of their youth while Loki tried to keep his eyes from rolling out of his head.

A death sentence would’ve been more merciful, Loki would think as he sat staring out the window or at a spot on the wall.

The days were long and the nights were even longer, the only reason he could even tell them apart were Thor’s constant visits, in which Thor would always rip open the curtains to his room to let the sun in.

Then one day, as he sat cross-legged on the floor, contemplating his existence while staring a the wall in front of him, Thor burst in with an impossibly huge grin.

“Brother, we are leaving!”


	2. Chapter 2

Odin sat at his thrown, face stern as he looked at his sons. Thor looked like he was about to start bouncing on the balls of his feet from excitement. Loki’s hands were bound with magical shackles but the metal gag was thankfully left behind. He side-eyed Thor with thinly veiled disgust. Frigga watched quietly from the sidelines, a small smile gracing her face.

Odin cleared his throat. “Loki’s punishment will continue on Midgard just as it has here. I’m trusting you will make sure of that, Thor.”

Thor grinned. “Yes, of course father.” 

Odin smiled and turned his gaze onto Loki, his voice full of warning, “and Loki, if you attempt to escape or harm anyone, know that I will strip you of your powers with a blink of an eye.”

“You only have one eye to blink with All-Father.” Loki yelped and jumped as a burst of magic burned his wrists. “Understood,” he added under his breath. Thor chuckled at him.

Odin looked pointedly at Thor and spoke again, “know that I will be watching.” Thor’s breathing sped up minutely and it was Loki who chuckled this time. Loki had figured out instantly why Thor wanted to go to earth so badly and so did Odin, apparently, his mortal woman was there and he was desperate to see her again. He wondered what she would think of Thor bringing his monstrous brother along. He grinned as Odin issued the last of the rules for their trip. At least he’ll be in a new room for a while. And he was sure Thor will get in some sort of trouble for bringing the would-be ruler of earth back with him, that should be entertaining.

Odin stood, handing Frigga Gungnir and walked down to where Loki and Thor stood side by side, clapping a weathered hand on each of their shoulders and giving them a squeeze. “Have a good trip, my sons.” Frigga handed him back his spear as Thor and Loki stepped aside to let Odin walk through. Then Frigga suddenly pulled them in for a crushing hug, it was awkward, seeing as the were both larger than her, but they both returned the hug as best they could. She finally pulled back, keeping a hand on each of the men’s cheeks as she smiled at them. She looked at Thor, “be good,” then at Loki, “be happy.” Loki’s eyebrows climbed up his forehead while Thor’s scrunched together.

“I believe you said those out of order, mother,” Loki said quietly.

Frigga simply laughed and pat their faces before walking between them to catch up with Odin, taking his arm as they walked out of the throne room together.

Thor clasped Loki’s shoulder, back to his overly eager self. “Let us make haste, brother! I wish to get there as soon as possible!” Loki held his groan in.

—-

“Odin, I have been curious, why have you let Loki keep his magic?” Frigga asked as they walked down the quiet halls of their palace.

Odin sighed, gently patting Frigga’s hand, which was wrapped around his arm. “Loki has made many enemies, I do not wish to leave him defenseless against them.”


	3. Chapter 3

Darcy stood with Jane in the hallway in front of the door of one of the many debriefing rooms in the building. Darcy leaned against the stark white wall, nursing a crappy cup of coffee that was growing colder by the minute while Jane paced in front of her.

“I wonder what’s taking so long.” Jane began wringing her hands. They had just missed seeing Thor be brought into HQ but Bruce kindly told them which room they were probably bringing him to. Darcy had heard some murmurs of Thor bringing someone with him as Jane pulled her along.

“Heard some people saying that Thor brought someone with him.” Darcy shrugged.

Jane stopped and looked back at Darcy, face contorted in confusion, “who would he bring with?”

She shrugged again, “beats me. But that’s probably what’s taking so long.”

Jane walked up next to Darcy, slumping against the wall with a ‘hrmph.’

—-

“So, you’re telling me that you want us to house your crazy-ass little brother, whom just a year ago, was trying to kill us and take over the world?” Nick Fury loomed across the table from Thor and Loki. Loki leaned back with a smug smile as he put his shackled hands behind his head.

“Yes,” Thor answered quietly. Fury glared daggers at him. Or, dagger, rather.

“Be careful Nick, I think that vein above your good eye is about to burst,” Loki chimed in.

Fury turned his gaze to him. “You shut the fuck up.”

Loki feigned offence. “That is no way to speak to a guest, Nick.”

“Loki,” Thor’s voice was a low growl. Loki lifted an eyebrow at him, but said nothing.

Fury sighed and rubbed his temples. “You are so lucky you’re to good of an ally to piss off…” Thor brightened at that. “You’re keeping him in those shackles and in your room until we find somewhere to put him. I don’t want him out of your sight, understood?”

Thor grinned and stood up. “Understood, Man of Fury! Loki shall never leave my sight.”

Loki groaned and his head dropped to the table in front of him. 

“You are dismissed.” Nick opened the door and left, his heavy leather jacket fluttering behind him. And suddenly there was high pitched squealing and Thor’s hearty laugh assaulting Loki’s ears. He groaned again.

“Jane, my love! Darcy! It is wonderful to see you again!” Loki dared to roll his forehead and look at Thor’s woman and whoever this Darcy was. Thor Had both women locked in one of his bone crushingly tight hug.

“We missed you too, big guy,” Darcy wheezed. Thor set them down, took another look at Jane and kissed her for a minute straight while Loki and Darcy watched. Him from where his face on the table and her from directly beside the lovebirds.

Loki sighed, lifting his face from the table and standing up. “If your done giving your  _greetings_ , Thor, I’m famished and would like to eat soon.” There was a gasp and a loud thunk as Darcy’s head hit the wall. Thor pulled away from Jane, who was now wide eyed and looking at Loki in utter fear. It made Loki smile.

Thor looked back at Loki. “Of course! Jane, Darcy, would you like to join us?”

Jane looked absolutely horrified, her mouth hung open, unable to form any words.

“Dude! You brought  _him_  with you? Are you crazy!?” 

Loki huffed and peered around Thor to get a look at Darcy, who had been mostly blocked from his view by Thor and Jane. Her long, dark brown hair fell in waves over her ample breasts, breasts that where covered with layers of bulky shapeless clothing, what a pity. Her glasses were falling down the bridge of her pale nose and she bit her bottom lip nervously. She was lovely, if a bit dowdy.

“I believe I’m usually considered the crazy one.” He replied flatly. 

Thor ignored both of them and pleaded Loki’s case, “Loki is turning over a new leaf.”

“No I’m not.”

“He’s trying to recompense for the harm he’s caused.”

“Not really.”

“Loki,” Thor warned.

“Thor,” Loki mocked.

“Please, give him a chance?” Thor begged to two women.

—-

“You have to sit in front of the crazy super villain.” Jane and Darcy walked close to each other, trays full of food in their hands.

“What!? No! I’m sitting in front of Thor.”

“Why do you get to sit in front of Thor?”

“I’m his girlfriend!”

“So!” Darcy pouted, then she began to walk faster. “You can’t sit there if I beat you to it.”

“Darcy, seriously, are you five?” Jane hissed as she walked faster.

Thor and Loki were already at the table, the other tables around them had instantly emptied as soon as they sat down. Thor was practically shoving food into his mouth while Loki poked at his with his fork.

“This food is sub par by even Midgard’s standards.” 

“You haven’t even tried it.”

“I can smell it.”

Suddenly Jane slammed down into the seat in front of Thor, her tray landing with a loud clatter. Darcy followed more slowly, sitting cautiously before Loki, he smirked. Both women were out of breathe. Darcy glared at Jane before keeping a laser-like focus on her food.

They ate in a tense, awkward silence. Loki looked around at the people who were keeping a safe distance and whispering to each other.

Darcy had had enough. She was gonna throw up if the tension wasn’t broken soon. She cleared her throat. “So, um, I see you got a haircut. One side looks a bit long though.”

It took Loki a moment to realize that she was speaking to him, he looked back at her and ran hand through his hair. “Yes, Thor did it. It was out of desperation, I assure you. I haven’t let him touch it since.”

Darcy looked over to Thor, “stick to smashing things with mewmew, blondie.”

Thor looked at Darcy, offended. “It is a fine haircut!”

Darcy leaned over the table, grabbing two locks of hair on either side of Loki’s face. Loki froze and looked at her with wide eyes. She pulled the pieces of hair down, one made it just past his chin, the other fell close to his collarbone. She forced Loki to turn his head to Thor. “I don’t think this is the look Loki was going for.”

“She’s touching me, Thor.” Loki said flatly.

“I could have fixed it if Loki had let me.” 

“Thor, she’s touching me.”

“I bet if he did, he’d be bald right now.” Darcy let go of Loki’s head and flopped gracelessly back into her seat. Jane was giggling and the people’s chatter became louder than before.

Thor looked at Jane like a hurt puppy. “I’m sorry, but he’d look really funny bald” Jane said through fits of giggles.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get that fixed.” Darcy said with reassuring smile.

Loki glared at her. “Don’t touch me.” 

The three eased into a friendly conversation while Loki stabbed at his food.


	4. Chapter 4

Nick Fury, Thor, Loki and Tony stood in one of the many rooms of the Stark tower. Actually, it was more like an apartment, it had a bedroom, bathroom, a small kitchen and a living area. Sunlight poured in from the large windows that lined one side of the apartment, which gave Loki a lovely view of the still very destroyed city.

Nick stood with his arms across his chest staring at Tony so hard Loki thought he might be trying to set the man on fire. Tony was giving a thorough explanation on how he installed small devices throughout the apartment that made an perimeter that Loki wouldn’t be able to pass, magically or otherwise. 

“So, you’re sure these things will keep him in here?” Nick asked after Tony finished his speech.

“100% positive, Nicky. This the same thing I use in the Iron Man suit, just tweaked slightly…. I still don’t quite get how this is punishment though.” He looked over to Thor for an explanation, Loki gave it to him instead.

“I’ve had to sleep in the same bed with him for three nights, that is punishment enough for multiple lifetimes.” He looked over at Thor, “does Jane know how loudly you snore?”

Thor shot him a glare and opened his mouth to respond but Tony cut him off before he could, “Woah okay boys, no fighting, you’re both pretty.” Thor and Loki turned and glared at Tony. Nick sighed.

“Just turn on the damn things so I can get out of here.” He gave Thor and Loki an annoyed look. “I’ve got important shit to do.”

“No problem.” Tony darted over to the entryway, punching a few keys before walking back inside the apartment. “We’re on.”

“That’s it?”

“Yup.”

Loki turned back to Thor, holding out his shackled arms to him. “If you will.” Thor grabbed a key from the pocket of his jeans, quickly releasing Loki, who sighed in relief and rubbed the raw marks on his wrists.

The four men stood around for a minute, not sure what to do next.

Loki broke the silence, “I’d like to make myself comfortable now, if you don’t mind.”

“Remember, I’ll have my eye on you.” Nick warned.

“I’m flattered, Nick,” Loki smiled innocently. Nick growled and made his way out of the apartment, Tony following him.

“I shall come and check on you later, brother.” Thor placed a hand on Loki’s shoulder.

“Take your time.” Loki snapped and jerked out of Thor’s grasp. Thor nodded and walked out the door, shutting it behind him. Loki sunk down into the nearby couch and fell asleep without meaning to. Stupid Thor and his snoring.

—-

Thor, Clint and Steve walked towards the training gym side by side, taking up the entire hallway as they did.

“What if I am gone for an extended period of time?” Thor tugged on the t-shirt he wore, it was just slightly too short on him.

“I don’t know Thor, Loki will deal with it,” Clint grumbled.

“Clint’s right, Loki is a grown man, he can handle being on his own.” Steve gave Thor a reassuring pat on his giant arm.

“But,” Thor stepped in front of the other men, “I fear if he is left alone too long he may fall back into his old ways of thinking.” 

Steve sighed, “well, what if you had someone else do your job for a while?”

“But-“

Steve put his hand up. “Thor, I think both of you could probably use a break from each other. Have someone else keep tabs on him and spend some time with Jane.”

Clint nodded. “And it’s just getting weird how much you talk about your brother.”

“That too.”

Thor took a deep breath and nodded. “But who could do it?”

Clint began to pace. “Well, all of us are out, random SHIELD agents would get eaten alive by him… maybe Jarvis?” Clint looked to Steve, who shrugged.

Thor’s eyes widened and he grinned. “I’ve got it! I shall spar with you later, friends. But I must find Jane and Darcy.”

“Why do I feel like this might be a bad idea?” Clint asked as he and Steve watched Thor run down the hall.

“Because it probably is.”

—-

“Darcy is not becoming your brother’s babysitter!” Jane had Darcy’s head clutched tightly to her chest.

Thor was making that kicked puppy face again. ”Please my love, he will not harm her for fear of the wrath of our father.”

“No!”

“But Jane-“

“No.”

“Why me?” Darcy asked, her voice slightly muffled by Jane’s sweater.

“Because when we went to lunch the first day I brought him here you you didn’t fear him. You actually grabbed his head, not even I would do that. I think he might like you.” Thor shrugged his shoulders.

Darcy pulled her face away from Jane. “That’s because  _you_  were right there! And you think he likes me!? He glared at me for the rest of lunch!”

“Well, he did seem to like certain parts of you,” Thor said sheepishly as he glanced down at her breasts.

Darcy’s jaw dropped and looked over at Jane, who looked like she  might rip Thor’s head off. “Well, it’s good to know there are gross pigs all across the nine realms!” Darcy made a sweeping hand gesture before yanking on her hair and growling in frustration.

“Please Darcy?” Thor was making that kicked puppy face again.

“Nope.” Darcy crossed her arms. She would not give in to him.

—-

There was a soft knock on the door, Loki stood up from the couch warily, making his way to the door slowly. “Identify yourself.”

“Darcy Lewis. Jane’s friend…” Darcy. Oh yes, the busty girl who dared to touch him. Why would she be here? “…Please open the door. These bags are heavy.” Loki furrowed his brow and opened the door to see her standing there with a bunch of plastic bags hanging from her small hands. She quickly walked in and dropped the bags on the small kitchen counter. She hissed and rubbed her hands together, the red marks from the bags slowly began to fade.

Loki looked at her and the bags in complete bewilderment. “What are you doing here?”

“Thor said you needed food. I brought you food.” She looked at him with a slightly annoyed expression.

“I see that. But why didn’t he bring me food?” Not that he was complaining, he was just completely thrown off by this turn of events.

“Thor had things to do today. Namely, Jane.” Darcy smirked.

Loki blanched. “ _Disgusting_. I did not need to know that.”

“You asked, buddy.”

“I am not your  _‘buddy’_  Darcy Lewis.” Loki said in a low voice.

“ _Someone_  is sensitive.”

“Perhaps it would be best if you left now.” Loki walked back over to the door and opened it for her.

She nodded. “Gladly.” She stopped in front of him. He straightened, raising his chin slightly and looking down at her. “Thor is making me come back tomorrow, just so you know.” Then she was out the door. He shut it quietly.

“What is that oaf trying to do to me?” He walked over to the counter, poking a bag with a finger.


	5. Chapter 5

The sky was dark and it was pouring buckets of rain over the city as Loki sat on his couch staring at the black screen of the small television. Silent except for the fat drops of rain thumping against the windows. He took a deep breath. Suddenly there was a soft knock on the door. He cursed inwardly as he stood and walked to the door. “I must commend you on your manners, Darcy Lewis. I don’t think Thor has ever once knocked on a door,” he stood in the doorway, blocking her entry, “but, your services, whatever they may be, are not required.”

“Thanks but, Director Fury got wind of the new arrangement and now I’m officially your babysitter.” She leaned against the doorway and sighed, “believe me, I don’t want to be here just as much as you don’t want me here. Let’s just get this hour over with as quickly as possible.”

Loki clenched his jaw, but moved aside to let her in. He hated that Thor was insistent on him having constant company, especially if it was forced. Darcy obviously did not want to be here, and he obviously did not want her here. What in the nine realms was this supposed to do for him? Rub it in his face that he could make no friends of his own? Darcy was a friend of Thor’s and obviously Thor’s alone. So now they’re stuck here in an awkward silence, waiting for time to pass so that she could leave and go be with those she actually wanted to be around.

Darcy stood in the middle of the living room, taking a better look than she had gotten yesterday. “This place is way nicer than mine. So, not fair.” She turned and saw Loki standing by the closed door, giving her a death stare. She had to remind herself of what Thor told her, he won’t hurt her because he’ll lose his powers if he does. Okay, be cool. “Look, it’s only an hour and then I’m out of your hair till tomorrow.”

Loki’s face softened a tad bit, but he crossed his arms over his chest. “Why you?” He commanded quietly.

“Thor thought you liked me for some reason.” Her boobs, she thought, Thor thought Loki liked her boobs. Oh god, he needed to stop staring her down like that,  it was making her nervous as hell.

Loki scoffed, “And, pray tell, what might  _that_  reason be?”

Don’t say boobs. “Boobs.” Shit. She bit the inside of her cheek until she winced.

His eyebrows raised at that and without thinking his gaze fell a little lower. Well, maybe Thor wasn’t  _always_  a gigantic fool. He laughed softly and smirked at her. “Those are very good reasons, as far as I can tell.” He eyed her thick sweater that hung loosely off her body with distaste. “But maybe not the only reason?”

“Well, I did grab your head during lunch that day. Apparently that meant something.” She shrugged.

Loki laughed again, “Ah, he thinks you do not fear me….” He walked to the nearest window and watched the drops of rain glide down the smooth surface, without looking at her he asked, “so, is it true? Do you not fear me?” He could hear her shuffle nervously.

“Thor told me you won’t do anything, because if you did your dad will come down and take away your powers.”

Loki chuckled, “That is true, I’d rather not lose my magic because I turned an annoying little mortal into a frog.”

“Good to know.” Darcy checked her phone. “Well, now that we have  _that_  out of the way, what should we do for the next 45 minutes?”

Loki’s head hit the window with a soft thunk.

—-

“Have you changed since getting here?”

Loki looked down at himself, he has been wearing the same armor for nearly two weeks now. “No.”

“EW!” Darcy shrieked.

“It’s not like I don’t clean myself!” 

“Dude! You’ve been wearing the same outfit for weeks now. Gross. And I’ve been sitting next to you!” 

Loki’s jaw clenched. “My name is not ‘dude.”

“That’s it. I’m gonna have to do some sweet talking, but I am getting you some clothes.”

“I don’t smell. It is unnecessary.”

“Like hell it isn’t.”

“I won’t wear them.”

“I’ll make you.”

Loki scoffed. “I’d like to see you try, little mortal girl.”

—-

“God, you’re quiet today.” Darcy flicked through the tv channels far too fast for Loki’s liking. He snatched the remote from her hand. “Hey!”

“I’m quiet everyday Darcy.” He pushed the button at a much slower pace.

“Yeah, well, you’re being too quiet today for my liking.” She tried grabbing the remote back but Loki managed to keep it just out of her reach until she was stretching her body over his and one of her breasts brushed against his chest. Perhaps trading in the armor for mortal clothing wasn’t the worst idea.

He stopped on one of Midgard’s 24 hour news channels and Darcy flopped back into her spot on the couch with a petulant groan.

—-

“This food is terrible.”

“You think all food is terrible.” Darcy took another massive bite of her slice of pizza.

“Because it is.”

Darcy rolled her eyes and swallowed. “Just eat it, beanpole.”

Loki eyed her. “Don’t they teach you to respect your  _elders_  here?”

“I think that rule flies out the window when your  _elder_  tries to take over your home. Eat.”

Loki huffed and took a small, dainty bite of his pizza.

—-

Loki and Darcy stood looking out the widow, watching as New York city was being blanketed by the first snowfall of winter. 

Darcy smiled and hugged herself, “I love winter.”

Loki frowned slightly at the faint reflection of himself in the mirror. “I do not.”

“Is it because of the whole frost smurf thing?”

Loki looked at her with an expression of horror and confusion. 

“Thor told me.”

“Of course he did.”

“Can I see?”

“No.”

“Please?”

“Care to make a bargain?” Loki grinned.

“What do you want?”

Loki quirked a brow and looked pointedly at her chest.

Darcy glared at him. “No!”

“Pity.” His gaze went back out the window.

—-

“So,” Thor set his beer bottle down on the counter with a quiet clink, he was on his third while Loki continued to nurse hi first one. “How has a month with Darcy been?”

“Odd.”

Thor grinned and leaned more onto the counter. “Good odd or bad odd, brother?”

“Just… odd. Ask me in another month.” Loki looked off in the distance and took a long swig of his beer.


	6. Chapter 6

Tony and Steve stood in a small, dark room in front of a few glowing screens.

"You know, I was expecting something so much more interesting to happen when I heard Darcy was Loki's babysitter," Tony muttered as he watched the live feed from the living room of Loki's swanky little prison cell. Loki and Darcy were once again sitting on the couch talking and watching tv. "Seriously, all they do is talk and watch tv!"

Steve sighed, "They're not here for your amusement, Tony. Quit eavesdropping."

Tony continued a if Steve hadn't said anything, "I mean, Loki has said a few things about Darcy's boobs, which makes me wonder when he's gonna make a move. But otherwise nothing. Absolutely nothing."

"Do you sit here watching them everyday?"

"It's been quiet around here lately, I need something to do."

"You are horrible," Steve grabbed Tony's arm and began pulling him out of the room. "I'm cutting you off." Tony whined.

\---

Darcy was spread out across the couch, head laying on the armrest and her toes shoved under Loki's thigh. Loki sat with his legs splayed, clutching a jar of nutella to his chest, he wondered at what point he became alright with Darcy's disposition for physical contact as he ate another spoonful of the heavenly concoction. They were silent as they watched two people fling uncreative insults at each other in a fake looking courtroom.

"I think I've gained weight." Loki announced, digging the spoon into the jar once again.

"It's probably because all you eat is nutella." Darcy chuckled. "But you were looking a little gaunt, so it's fine."

"I did not look  _gaunt_." Loki shoved yet another spoonful in his mouth.

"Did too. So anyways..." Loki huffed and grumbled, but Darcy continued, "I have a date friday night, so Thor's gonna be bringing your groceries - and before you say anything, yes, I remembered to give him the list this time." 

Loki felt his stomach clench. He was disappointed? It was probably because he'd have to spend time with Thor. That's it. His spoon scraped the bottom of the jar. Dammit. "Alright. Who is the unlucky mortal who has decided to spend time with you?" He stared at the tv screen, trying to ignore the goofy little smile that crossed her face.

"He's a newbie agent. Which means he's basically been Coulson's bitch. I had to help him with the coffee machine a couple days ago and, I don't know, we kind of hit it off..." she trailed off. He was really cute, and seemed pretty nice too. It had been a few months since she'd been on any dates so she was excited to get a bit dressed up, even if it was completely freezing outside. Maybe she could find a sexy sweater to wear. She got distracted by Loki clearing his throat.

"That is good, I do hope Thor doesn't lose the list though." He was just disappointed about having to be around Thor. That's it.

"I gave Jane a copy. And just to warn you, she might come along too. Her and Thor have been inseparable lately. Joined at the mouth, it's gross." 

Good, Loki thought, another reason for his disappointment, he'll have to watch Thor and his woman wrestle with their tongues. Not that Darcy would be off spending time with some SHIELD underling. Possibly wrestling tongues with him. The plastic jar bent in his hand.

\---

Darcy had been correct about Jane coming along. And them being joined at the mouth. After he managed to shove the two out the door before they started taking their clothes off, he sat and idly clicked through the channels on the tv and did not think about Darcy _at all_. He was still not thinking about her when she busted through his door, a couple bags in her hand.

"Asshole." She growled quietly as she set the bags down and started emptying their contents.

Loki walked up to her quietly. "Date didn't end well?"

"No!" She shouted without meaning too. She pulled out two cartons of ice cream and to bottles of vodka, she hadn't even paid attention to the flavors she had grabbed.

"What a shame." He had a hard time keeping the happiness from his voice. She shoved a carton of ice cream in his hands. It was a flavor named after The Avengers. Loki chuckled at it.

Darcy took her heavy winter coat and threw of to the side. "Guys suck!" Darcy grabbed a couple of cups and spoons, her carton of ice cream, both bottles of vodka and somehow managed to grab Loki and drag him to the couch.

The date was going well until the guy got handsy, when Darcy objected he called her a bunch of terrible names. Yelled them actually, in the middle of the restaurant! She dumped her drink on him and left immediately. She needed to vent though. She knew Jane would be on Thor at the moment, so that was a no-go, and she didn't really have anyone else to go to for this kind of stuff. So, Loki would have to be her captive audience. Maybe he'd at least pretend to care about her horrible night if she brought him gifts of booze and empty calories(okay, that was still mostly for her, but maybe Loki would accept her offering). She set everything down and dropped down onto the couch, Loki followed her, but much more gracefully.

"Should I ask what happened?" He forced himself to keep a concerned look on his face, he was finding it exceedingly difficult to not smile. She handed him a spoon before ripping off the lid of her ice cream.

"Oh, you know, same old story: Boy tries coping a feel in the middle of a packed restaurant, girl tells him to stop, boy calls her every name in the book." She scooped a big spoonful of ice cream in her mouth and continued, "his ass is  _grass_  on monday."

Loki laughed softly, peeled the lid of his ice cream off and set it on the small coffee table. "If it wouldn't most likely get my powers taken away I would make it literal." That made Darcy smile. His stomach fluttered.

She took a deep breath, scraping at the ice cream with her spoon. "Sorry for just barging in like this. I know you probably couldn't care less. I just really don't have many people I can go to for this kind of stuff."

That shouldn't have made him as happy as it did. "Think nothing of it. There was nothing good to watch anyways." He smirked and dug int his ice cream. Darcy laughed quietly and put her head on his shoulder. His stomach fluttered again.

\---

"This stuff tastes terrible," Loki tipped his head back, draining his glass of the last of the cotton candy flavored vodka.

"Yeah, but ish getsh the job done," Darcy slurred before draining her glass and setting it down and stretched her arms above her head. Loki poured them both another shot, this time it was the marshmallow vodka.

"This tastes terrible too," he said as he handed her back her glass. He was trying very hard to not to let his eyes linger over her body, he couldn't figure out why on earth she insisted on wearing layer upon layer of boxy t-shirts and sweaters. His eyes traced the deep v neckline of her sweater, he could at least understand what the little mortal fool was doing... if he could, he would shove his face between those wonderful-NO. No, he needed to stop that thought right there. He drank his shot in one gulp, wishing it burned his throat more.

"You think errvrything ish terrible." Darcy took her shot and winced, uck, it really did taste gross. Ugh, why wasn't Loki as drunk as her? Oh, yeah, the demigod thing. Maybe he was a bit drunk though, he was smiling way more than usual. Hm, a happy drunk? She took him more for a crying drunk. His smile was nice though. He kept smiling at her. That made  _her_  feel nice. It probably shouldn't though, right? Probably. Whatever, he was hot. Oh crap. She definitely shouldn't think that. 

"I do not think everything is terrible." He poured himself another shot, then one for Darcy after her hand shot out to him. "I don't think you're terrible." Oh Valhalla, shut up. He poured more vodka into his glass and guzzled it, wincing at himself more than the drink.

Darcy's eyes widened and she swayed in her seat. "You really donthink I'm terrible?" Shit, that really shouldn't make her as happy as it did, but she got called names and she needed the ego boost.

Backtrack Loki, say no. "Yes." Dammit. Her eyes lit up and she hugged him. His stomach was fluttering far too much tonight. And her body felt so soft and warm against his-NO! Nonononono. Think of Thor having sex. There. That's better. He wrapped his arms around her waist, she hummed and nuzzled her face into his neck. He could feel the clasp of her bra under the fabric of her sweater. Maybe he could? Thor. Having. Sex. Okay, better.

He felt her breathing even out. "Darcy?" No response. She was asleep, which was for the best, he was only gonna make and even bigger ass of himself. He stayed there for a while, just holding her. It felt nice. She smelled nice, besides the smell of bad alcohol.

"I think it's time bed now." He hooked an arm under her knees and stood up from the couch, swaying as he did. He carried her to his room, placing her on top of the blankets gently. He looked at the empty area behind Darcy's sleeping body and thought for a moment. Bad idea. He'll sleep on the couch tonight. He walked around and grabbed a pillow before walking back around to look at Darcy again. He reached out to brush the hair away from her face but stopped. That was a bad idea.

He closed the bedroom door behind him and laid down of the couch trying and failing to keep thoughts of her out of his mind.


	7. Chapter 7

_Darcy was in Loki's arms, looking at him with lidded eyes. He couldn't stop himself, his face darted down and he covered her neck with with kisses and gentle bites, her gasps and sighs spurring him on. He lifted her and pushed her against the window pane, his mouth moving lower as she wrapped her legs around his waist. His hands slid up her sweater and she arched into him._

_They were on his bed suddenly, their clothes disintegrating into nothingness. He sat up and slid his hands along her bare thighs, surveying every inch of her. Beautiful, he thought, no wait, he said that, she was smiling at him now. She sat up, taking his face into her hands and pulled him in for a kiss. She pulled him down on top of her_   _He_  felt himself slide inside of her and started thrusting into her slowly. His rhythm stayed slow and steady for what felt like forever. _He tried to move faster. He needed to. But somehow his body wouldn't allow him to._ _He pushed himself up so he could see her face, she looked serene, with just the smallest smile bending her open mouth._

_"You're blue," she said softly, with a sigh._

_He looked at his hands on either side of his head. He was._

_"It's pretty," she whispered and pulled him back down for another kiss. Then it was like his body had woken up, he pounded into her and everything became a blur._

_He felt himself getting closer, Darcy arched underneath him and suddenly_  he sprang up. He was on the couch, his mouth was dry, the sun was up, he looked at his hands. He wasn't blue. His hands were glowing a bit though.

He'd have to deal with that later, he was painfully hard at the moment. He looked at the clock, 7:40. He pressed his hand on the front of his tented pants, he couldn't get those images out of his head.

Shower. He needed a shower.

He stumbled into the bathroom, turned on the water to it's hottest setting and tried to scrub his thoughts away.

When that didn't work, he took himself in his hand and vowed that it would never happen again.

\---

"Owww..." Darcy's head pounded and the sun was shining in here eyes. It was not helping.

"Go 'way." She swatted the air feebly.

The bed was comfy though.

Wait. Her bed isn't this comfy. It didn't smell like what mysterious would smell like if words could have smells. She sat up slowly, she was on top of the comforter and her clothes were in order. So, definitely no sex happened last night. What did happen? She had a date and... Oh. She got drunk with Loki last night. She looked at the other side of the white bed, it was untouched, save for the missing pillow.

So, a sexy magical psychopath with dreams of world domination doesn't take advantage of drunk girls. Interesting.

Ugh, she needed to stop thinking about how hot he is. She didn't do that before. He was a magical psychopath with dreams of world domination, she's not supposed to be attracted to him.

But he was actually really nice to her? He could've kicked her out, let her drink and gorge on ice cream alone, but he didn't. He was nice to her. He made her feel better! He put her to bed! No inappropriate touching!

Psychopaths don't do that, do they?

Oooh, she smelled bacon.

\---

Loki was feeling so much better after, um, relieving himself. Maybe he just needed to get it out of his system. He hadn't even thought of Darcy... till just now.

As if on cue, the woman came stumbling out of his bedroom, one side of her hair was matted and her makeup was a bit smeared but he thought she looked incredibly lovely. He cleared his throat and made himself focus on flipping the bacon.

Which was made excessively more difficult when she came up to the counter and leaned over to get a whiff of what he was cooking, putting her chest directly in his line of vision.

She leaned back and rubbed her temples. "You know, you've never told me how you learned to cook so fast."

He cracked a few eggs into a bowl and whisked them. "It was easy, it's a lot like crafting spells... and there are a lot of cooking channels on the television." He winked at her and looked away quickly, missing out on the blush that crept up on her cheeks.

He finished making breakfast and dished it out. They ate quietly, both watching the cartoon aimed at 6-10 year olds with far more interest than necessary.

Darcy decided she needed to leave before she started staring at him for an inappropriate length of time. They stood there, just looking at each other for an awkward length of time before she pat him on the shoulder and practically ran out of the apartment.

Loki attempted to watch tv for a couple hours, gave up, thought about Darcy, took another shower, masturbated again, and then fell asleep.

Darcy braved the subway system with her pounding headache, took enough tylenol for four hungover people, took a shower, tried to not think about how good Loki looked with his shirt half unbuttoned(chest hair!? she would've never thought he'd have chest hair! Wonderful, glorious chest hair!), and eventually fell asleep.

\---

Darcy woke up to the sounds of "Holding Out for a Hero" coming from her phone and remembered instantly that she had forgotten to call Jane this morning like she promised. She picked it up quickly.

"Oh thank god you finally picked up! I was gonna send Thor over there soon." Darcy couldn't help but smile at that. She may a grown, independent, woman, but it was nice to know someone could get worried sick over her. She wondered if Loki would ever get worried sick over her.

"Sorry! Sorry. I forgot. I'm sorry." Darcy worried he bottom lip.

"It's alright, I'm just glad your okay.... I'm assuming it went well then?"

She made a face. "Ehh, not so much. Turns out he was a asshole with a cute face disguise. But I went and git drunk with Loki so it turned out okay."

There was a moment of silence on Jane's end of the line. "What?"

Darcy swallowed. "Well, yeah, you were busy and I don't really have a bunch of other friends I can go to for this stuff so... Loki."

"He didn't  _do_  anything to you did he?"

"No Jane. I am still the delicate, untouched flower I was yesterday." She replied flatly.

"I was just making sure, alright?"

"I know. He was really nice actually. He's a happy drunk, but he doesn't slur, it's so weird. He even made me breakfast this morning. Did you know he taught himself how to cook in a week?" Oh god, she was gushing. Shut up.

"God Darcy, sounds like your getting a crush." Jane laughed.

Oh god, she had a crush on Loki. She squeaked.

"Oh my god! You have a crush on Loki!"

"Gotta go Jane. Love you, bye." she hung up, dropped her phone on the bed and screamed into her pillow.

\---

Loki leaned on the edge of his sink, looking at his hands. They were glowing this morning. Perhaps Tony's tech didn't work as well as he boasted.

He snapped his fingers and a green flame shot out from his fingers. He grinned. This was wonderful.

As long as he didn't leave or hurt anyone, he'd be fine. 

He went to work, adding his own touches to the apartment, green bedding, gold accents here and there, curtains for those damn windows.

He finally felt at home. When he finished redecorating he sat down into the now more plush couch with a happy sigh. Surely someone would get in trouble for this, but he didn't care.

He stood back up, there was one more thing he wanted to try. He walked to the door, opened it and held out his hand. His skin buzzed as he pierced the invisible perimeter, but otherwise, nothing happened. He pulled his hand back in and looked up at the corner.

"I hope you saw that." He smirked and went back to the couch.


	8. Chapter 8

"Holy shit! He can use his magic! He can get out! What the hell? My tech is fool proof!" Tony paced behind Steve and Bruce who were still staring at the screen which was paused on Loki's smirking face.

Steve looked at Bruce. "Do you think we should tell Fury?"

Bruce shook his head. "He hasn't done anything except for some redecorating. I don't think Fury has to know."

Tony continued to pace and yank on his hair in frustration, muttering curses and equations.

"Maybe we should tell Thor?" Steve asked.

"That might be a good idea."

"We should go ahead and do that then, it'll give Tony a chance to cool off."

Bruce stood up. "Yeah, let's go before he explodes or something."

\---

There was a knock on the door before Darcy opened it and walked in, her eyes widened as she took in the changes. "Oh, wow. What happened?"

"Hello to you too. I did some redecorating. You like it?" He looked at her expectantly.

She nodded. "It is definitely more Loki-ish now. You really do like green don't you? But, wait, how...?"

Loki stood and smirked as he walked over to her, a calla lily appearing in his hand. Darcy gasped. "Just know, somewhere in this building, Tony Stark is crying into a glass of really expensive scotch." He winked and held out the flower to her. "For you, my lady."

She couldn't stop herself from blushing and giggling like some flustered schoolgirl as she took the flower out of his hand. A magical psychopath just made her a flower. He really needs to stop being so damn charming. "Thanks."

Loki couldn't smile hard enough. "So, was that young man's ass turned into grass?"

"What? OH! Yeah. I told Steve, since he's the kind of guy to defend a lady's honor and all that, and since Coulson is, like, Steve's biggest fanboy, that jerk got demoted to assistant janitor instantly. Not to mention he has a pretty nice shiner now." Darcy grinned. "Thanks again for getting drunk with me. It really turned my night around."

"Think nothing of it."

"Hey, how about I make it up to you by finally fixing your hair?" 

Loki ran a hand through his uneven, chopped up hair. "Perhaps that would be a good idea..."

"Great! I just need some scissors and a comb..." Both appeared in his hand. "How convenient. Let's get started."

Forty minutes later and Loki finally had hair that didn't look like it was cut with a rusty ax.

If Darcy took a little extra time to check her work and run her hands through Loki's obscenely soft hair, he didn't complain about it.

"Perfect!" She smiled to herself and stepped back from Loki.

He conjured up a mirror and nodded. "Indeed it is. Thor will be so disappointed." Darcy snorted. The mirror disappeared and Loki stood from the chair he was sitting in. "I believe we are even now." With a wave of his hand the cut hair vanished.

Darcy looked up at the clock and held in a sigh. "Oh, I guess our hour is up," there was just a tinge of sadness in her voice.

Just as Loki was about to ask her to stay a bit longer a song started to play from her handbag.

"That's Jane. I need to get that." She ran to the counter, dug around inside her bag for a minute before pulling out the phone and answering. "Hey Jane... Yeah, just finishing up... Yeah, no problem... Alright. Be there in a few. Love ya, bye." She turned back to Loki. "Guess I'll be going then. See you tomorrow."

He wanted to say: I'll be waiting impatiently. But he froze and just nodded.

Darcy beamed at him, grabbed her bag and the flower and practically bounced out the door. 

Loki slumped down in his couch and wondered just what the hel was happening to him.

\---

"Nice hair, brother." Thor grumbled.

Loki laughed and flipped his hair a bit, "It is, isn't it? Darcy fixed it."

" _I_  could have fixed it."

"You would've hacked to pieces and you know it, besides Darcy didn't tug on my hair like she was trying to rip it out by the root. Delicate feminine touch and all that."

Thor raised his eyebrow at that.

"Perhaps you can let Jane tame that unruly mane you call hair?" Loki smirked as Thor's hand went to stroke the locks like they had bee personally offended by the suggestion. He held up a hand. "Pretend I said nothing."

Thor relaxed and decided to change the subject, "I've been told, and I can see, that you can use your magic in here." Loki nodded slowly, waiting to see where Thor was taking this. "Why haven't you ran off?"

Loki mocked offence, placing a hand on his chest and scoffing. "Why do you assume I'd do such a thing?"

"That is what you do brother, you break rules."

"Ah," Loki held up a finger to Thor. "I bend rules, I do not break them."

"Then why have you not  _bent_  that one?"

Loki shrugged. Thor continued to stare at him. He sighed, "perhaps I am getting lazy in my old age."

Thor rolled his eyes at that. "Come on, now. There has to be a reason."

He enjoyed Darcy's company far too much to leave. "I see no reason to leave."

"That is it?"

"Yes."

"Truly?" Thor's brows furrowed in confusion.

"As true as I can be." Loki grinned.

"You confound me, brother."

"Now you know how I feel."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Calla Lilies apparently mean "magnificent beauty" in old time-y flower speak(according to websites found via google) 
> 
> I feel like Loki might be the kind of guy to know that stuff. And use it.


	9. Chapter 9

_Darcy stood in a classroom. Her favorite history class from highschool. She was naked. Why was she naked? And why was there people sitting here watching her? The Avengers were here. Nick Fury was here. Jane was here, she was sitting in Thor's lap. Ugh, she was always on him._

_Loki walked into the room. He was naked too. Wow, he looked really good naked. Really good. He had a really naughty smile on his face as he strode up to her. Then he was kissing her and gently laying her down on the big desk in front of the classroom. Everyone watched them silently._

_Loki's face hovered above hers, his eyes practically glowed and he had a wicked grin._

_"Let's show them how to really have a good time."_

_He stood, grabbing the backs of her knees, pulling them up and apart before kneeling down in front of her_  and Darcy gasped. She was in bed and still wearing the t-shirt and underwear she went to bed in. Good, she thought. Loki's face was not in between her legs. Damn.

She looked at her alarm clock, she had ten minutes before her alarm would go off. Darcy sighed and shut the alarm off, today would probably be a good day for an extra long shower. How was she supposed to look anyone in the eye today?

Especially Loki.

\---

The Avengers and Nick Fury stood in the tiny room that showed the live feed of Loki's quarters. Loki was making himself lunch and watching CNN.

"So, he hasn't left or anything?" Natasha asked incredulously.

"He's done is some redecorating but other than that..." Bruce trailed off with a shrug.

Thor announced, "he has no intentions of leaving." He stood in the back of the small room, watching the screen Loki was on.

"But... Why?" Clint looked back at Thor.

Thor shrugged. "He usually tries to get around the rules set for him, but he told me that he had no reason to leave. So, I guess he is staying."

"How can we trust him?" Natasha asked to Thor, but Fury answered as Thor opened his mouth.

"We don't. No one stops watching him. And I want Tony fixing this shit ASAP. Speaking of, wake him the fuck up before he leaves a puddle of drool on the floor." Nick turned and left the room and everyone's attention was turned to the man who was leaning against the wall, fast asleep with his mouth hanging open.

\---

Darcy sat in the break room, minding her own business and eating the chips she got from the vending machine when Jane sat down in front of her. She moved to leave but Jane grabbed her chips and held them out of her reach.

"We need to talk." Jane blurted out. Darcy whined. "You've been avoiding talking about it for days now."

Darcy's head fell to the table. "I think I have a crush on Loki, okay? What am I supposed to do about it?"

"I can't believe you have a crush on Loki! You're not supposed to get crushs on guys who try to take over worlds and kill people."

"I know," Darcy whined. "But he's been... He's been  _so nice_." And hot.

" _Darcy_."

"I know! I know! Crazy murder-y guy. But he made me a flower out of magic a few days ago and he's been showing these really cool magic tricks... he's actually really fun to hang out with..." Darcy pleaded her case from where her face rested on the table. "And he's hasn't done any bad stuff." And he's hot.

Jane sighed, "how do you know he won't just turn around and be a bad guy again?"

She didn't. "I don't know."

Jane set the chips down and began to pet Darcy's head. "I know he's been nice to you and all that, and I'm not trying to be mean and ruin any fun your having, but I'm worried about you getting hurt... Maybe it might be a good idea to have Thor check on him more often again?"

Darcy held back a whimper, Jane was right, but she  _liked_  having to check on Loki now. She looked forward to it. She hoped he did too. She nodded.

Why did she have to go and get a crush on the damn guy.

\---

Loki sat in front of the window, watching the snow fall on the city again.

He looked at the clock, he had fifteen minutes before Darcy came. He was going to show her some of the things he could do with ice today. He held one palm out, waved the other hand above it and slowly a crystal clear rose bloomed in his hand.

He let it melt into nothing and went back to watching the snow fall.

There was a knock and he turned to see Darcy poke her head through the door, he waved her in. She slipped off her heavy coat and her boots before she came and sat next to him on the floor. 

"I can't believe how much it's snowed already." Darcy smiled, she loved the snow.

"It is going to make it difficult for people travelling to see family for  _thanksgiving_."

Darcy snorted, "You watch too much news."

Loki smiled at her, "so are you going to be one of those unfortunate travelers?"

Darcy shook her head. "Nah. Don't really have much of a family to do that with."

Loki looked at her quizzically and asked, "why's that?"

"It's not a big deal or anything." Loki continued to stare at her, she groaned quietly. "Fine, my parents died when I was seven, I don't have any siblings and I was raised by my bachelor uncle who doesn't really do the whole 'family get-together' thing. There you go."

"I'm sorry."

Darcy slapped her hands on her face and groaned again. "This is why I don't like telling people, they're always  _sorry_. There's nothing to be sorry about. It just ... is."

Loki's brow furrowed. "Sorry?"

Darcy made a muffled noise behind her hands and laughed. She slid her hands down her face and smiled at Loki. "You're an ass." 

Loki smiled back at her, ignoring the incessant stomach fluttering and resisting the urge to just kiss her. "So what will you be doing?"

She shrugged and leaned back on her hands. "I'm not sure. Depends if I get invited anywhere. Otherwise it's gonna be a special night between me and a frozen lasagna. What about you?"

"I think that depends on Thor."

Darcy nodded. "That means we might be spending thanksgiving together then." She got way too excited at the thought.

Loki raised an eyebrow.

"Jane is probably gonna involve Thor in whatever festivities she has planned, which means I might get involved too and I doubt Thor would want to leave you out." She hoped that was gonna happen. Which was bad. Bad Darcy.

Loki looked out the window thoughtfully and nodded. "You are definitely right about Thor..." Loki held back his smirk, for once Thor's insistence on making him participate in everything might be enjoyable. 

"Cool. Maybe we can get drunk and make a scene." Bad Darcy. No. Loki suddenly had that naughty grin from her dream, it made her legs twitch and her face flush. Stop thinking about that.

"Perhaps we will." Getting drunk with Darcy again seemed to simultaneously be the best and worst idea. Must get away from where ever his thoughts were going. "Oh. I have something I want to show you. 

Darcy sat up and turned towards him, her face full of excitement. "Ooh, what is it!?"

"Watch this." He held his hand out, waved the other above it, a long stemmed rose of ice formed in the air. He loved watching her reactions to even the simplest tricks. It made his heart beat faster and he couldn't help but puff out his chest and smile. He held it out to her. "For you."

Her smile was huge as she carefully took the floating rose. "It's cold."

"It's made of ice, it should be cold."

"Won't it melt?"

"Not for as long as I live."

"Like the other flower you gave me? It hasn't wilted."

Loki just smiled at her.

" _Awesome._ " He made it way too easy for her to have a crush on him.


	10. Chapter 10

Thor walked into the lab with his usual big grin on his face. Jane stood like a tiny soldier made of rage, you could practically see the steam rising from her head. Darcy stayed off to the side, biting her lip to keep from laughing.

“Hello, my love.” He went in for a kiss. Oh Thor. Poor, oblivious, Thor.

Jane held up a hand to his face, stopping his lips in their tracks. “Why did Tony ask me where he should send catering today?”

Thor straightened and looked at her with a deeply confused expression. “I invited him to the feast of thanks.”

Jane’s face was blank. She was really mad. “Who else did you invite to thanksgiving?”

“Well, Steve, Clint, Natasha, Loki of course-“

“Stop. Just stop.”

Thor looked over to Darcy. “Have I done something wrong?”

Darcy could just barely control her giggles. She put her hands up. “You are on your own here, big guy.”

Jane pinched the bridge of her nose. She spoke through gritted teeth, “you invited the avengers and your brother to my family’s Thanksgiving dinner…”

Thor’s broad shoulders sank and his eyes widened. “I did something wrong.”

“Yes, Thor. Yes you did.”

Darcy was gonna suffocate herself if she wasn’t able to laugh soon. She quietly snuck out of the lab just as Jane exploded, she made it to the end of the hall before falling to the floor in a fit of laughter. She could hear Thor deep roaring and thought that this was a very entertaining break from their constant making out.

She had to tell Loki about this.

—-

“How did you get him to go around and invite everybody?”

Loki smiled, puffing his chest out proudly. “It was simple, I told him it was the custom and that he would make it so much easier for Jane if he went and invited everybody they knew. Did they really start fighting over it?”

Darcy bounced a little in her seat on Loki’s couch. “Yeah! I left pretty quickly after it started, but from what I heard there was some name calling and there were noise complaints because of Thor.” 

Loki laughed and slapped his knees. “Wonderful, now maybe they won’t be sticking their tongues down eachother’s throats every five minutes.”

Darcy retched. “Ugh, yes, let’s hope.” 

They laughed for a few more minutes before finally calming down.

Darcy wiped a tear from her eye and sighed, “so, are you gonna go?”

“Of course. I don’t want to miss any mischief I’ve caused. Are you going?” It’d be far less entertaining without her there.

Well, definitely, now that I know you’re going. “Mhmm.”

“Good.” Wonderful, he thought. “We shall get drunk and make mischief.”

She hoped he meant that in a way he probably didn’t mean it. “Awesome. This might become the best Thanksgiving  _ever_.”

Loki beamed at her. He would make sure it would be.

—-

Natasha sat on a bench in SHIELD’s gym, taking a break from her workout when Clint slid up next to her, slinging an arm around her shoulders. “Heeeeyyyy Tasha.”

“Don’t call me Tasha.” She took a swig from her water bottle.

“So, are you going to Jane’s for Thanksgiving?”

“Thor invited me.”

“But are you going?”

“I thought that it was a misunderstanding of customs.”

Clint smirked. “Doesn’t mean we  _can’t_  go.”

Natasha quirked an eyebrow and looked over at him. “Why do you want to go?”

“Thor is definitely dragging Loki along and I want to see what happens when he is set out in the wild. And from what I’ve heard, if he uses his magic to hurt anyone daddy will take it away. I want to fuck with him.”

Natasha rolled her eyes. “You do realize he could kick your ass without magic, right?”

Clint looked offended and opened his mouth to defend his honor but Steve suddenly appeared, sitting on the other side of Natasha. He wiped his sweaty face with a towel and nodded to the agents. “Natasha, Clint. What’s going on?”

“Thanksgiving plans,” Natasha answered. “Clint wants me to go to Jane’s with him.”

Clint bristled at that. “I didn’t mean  _with_  me, I was just asking if you were going…”

“Yeah, sure.” She gave him a pat on his shoulder.

“I don’t think we’re actually supposed to go…”

“Aw, come on Cap, it’ll be lots of fun. What else do you have planned that day?” Steve was silent for a moment, so Clint went on, “see? Come with me and Nat, and we’ll bond and shit.”

“Don’t call me Nat,  _bird boy_.”

“Ouch, baby, that hurts.”

“Call me anything other than Natasha again and I’ll rip that arm off.” She looked pointedly at the arm wrapped around her.

“I really don’t think we should go you guys…”

“Loki is gonna be there, what if he decides to go bad and terrorize everyone. We’ll need to control him.” Steve looked deep in thought. Clint winked at Natasha, she rolled her eyes.

“Maybe…”

“Awesome!” Clint sprang up from the bench. “I’ll see you guys there! I’m gonna go see if Bruce and Tony are going!” He ran out of the gym with the excitement of a kindergartener with a bag of pixie sticks.

“This is gonna be the oddest Thanksgiving ever.”

“I only hope we all live through it.”


	11. Chapter 11

Jane’s parents lived just a little over an hour outside the city in the quiet suburban town. Darcy and Jane had gotten there earlier that morning, sans Asgardians, to help prepare. Jane hadn’t clearly explained who she was dating or who her boyfriend’s brother was and she wanted a chance to give her family warning.

Darcy liked having thanksgiving with Jane’s family, she’d only done it once before, for her first thanksgiving spent in New York. Her mother had made her instantly feel like part of the family, she greeted her with a tight hug and put her to work, making her help with the food.

Currently, she stood near the living room window, half-watching the Macy’s Day Parade and being on the lookout for any gods that might drop from the bright blue sky. Jane’s dad, two aunts and her sister in law were sitting around the tv, commenting on the different floats and the state of modern music. Five small children came running and screaming through the room. One boy, Jane’s 6 year old nephew Jake, was holding up a big metal mallet and roaring. Jane was trying desperately to get the utensil from him.

“Jake give me that! Jake don’t smash the pictures! JAKE!” Jake ran out of the room, mallet still in his hand. Jane stopped in front of Darcy, looking stressed and worried, she spoke quietly, “they’re definitely not here yet, right?”

Darcy smiled. “Nope.”

“Good, I still need to tell them. I just haven’t had the chance yet.” There was a roar promptly followed by a shrill cry from another room and Jane rolled her eyes and made her way up the stairs to wherever the children were. “JAKE!”

As soon as Jane left the room there was a crash outside that made the house shake a little. Jane’s family looked shocked an terrified, ready to duck for cover. Darcy smiled and laughed quietly.

 _“Unhand me you flannel covered oaf!”_  Darcy peeked out the window and saw Thor and Loki standing in a small crater in the front yard. Loki was straightening his clothes and attempting in vain to re-slick his thoroughly disheveled hair. Thor readjusted his shirt and laughed when Loki sneered at him. They walked to the front door.

Darcy could hear Jane stomping down the stairs. “Jane your boyfriend is here!” Jane stopped halfway down the staircase. Darcy could hear her mutter some curses under her breath before continuing down the stairs and opening the door for the brothers.

“Jane! This is a most wonderful day for a feast!” Darcy sidled up to the door just as Thor scooped Jane up for a kiss. Loki slipped in behind Thor silently, smiling and walking around the couple when he caught sight of Darcy on the other side of Jane.

“You look lovely.” Loki’s eyes moved up and down her body. Darcy glanced down at herself, she was wearing her nice purple sweater and some stretchy jeans, nothing really special. He was in head-to-toe black and everything looked perfectly tailored and at home on him. Damn demigods.

“You don’t look half bad yourself.” Darcy gave his arm an awkward little punch. Why did she do that. That was dumb, Darcy. 

Loki chuckled and ran a hand through his mussed hair. It had some curl to it, much to Darcy’s surprise (and pleasure). Should she tell him it looked good like that? “No thanks to Thor. He  _insisted_  we travel by hammer.” Loki jerked his head at his brother, who perked up at the mention of his name.

“It was fun!”

“For you perhaps. Some of use prefer travel that doesn’t involve getting hit in the face by a bird.”

Darcy’s eyebrows scrunched together. “You hit a bird?”

“That was one time, Loki! Let it go!” Thor bellowed. Loki rolled his eyes.

“I still have the scar, Thor,” he said as he pointed to a faint line on his forehead.

“ _Guys_ ,” Jane hissed. They looked at Jane, then at her family who had gathered around to watch with shocked fascination.

Jane turned to face her family, clapping her hands together. “So, everyone, this is my boyfriend, Thor. And his brother Loki.” There was silence. Everyone stared at each other, unsure of what to do or say. Then there was a thunk from the second level of the house.

“OH MY GOD!” The sound of small gasps and tiny feet trampling down the stairs filled the silence until the five kids stood in awe in front of Thor. Jake stood in the front of the pack, a towel tied around his neck and his mouth agape. “Are you Thor?” He asked quietly.

Thor smiled warmly and knelt down. “I am, and who might you be?” 

“J-Jake.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Jake.” Then there was screeching and squealing as Thor was overtaken by the children, all fighting for the chance to ask him questions. Jane practically swooned at the sight of Thor with kids, which made Loki roll his eyes.

Loki leaned down and whispered to Darcy, “who are the hosts of the party?” 

Darcy nodded towards Jane’s parents who stood inside the entryway of the kitchen, watching the scene with slack jaws. “That’s her mom and dad.”

Loki nodded his head and slowly walked up to the older couple, a bottle of wine appearing in his hands. Their attention was focused on him now, eyes wide. Loki put on his most charming smile as he held out the bottle to them. “This is a gift, a peace offering if you will. And an apology for the hole in your yard.” He leaned forward a little and whispered, “Thor’s never been great at landing.” Jane’s mom swallowed hard and gingerly took the bottle from Loki’s hand.

There was a loud buzz from the kitchen and Jane’s flustered mother stammered a ‘thank you’ before running back to the kitchen, bottle in hand. Loki turned and made his way back to Darcy laning down to whisper to her again, “I think they’re in shock.” 

Darcy nodded. “But the kids seem to like Thor.”

Loki smirked. “They would, they share the same mentality.”

Darcy snorted and cleared her throat, addressing the room, “okay, so now that we have  _that_  out of the way, we can bust out the cheese ball now!” The lightness in Darcy’s comment seemed to break the tense air that filled the room, everyone went back to whatever they were doing before the Asgardian’s arrival. Darcy grabbed Loki’s arm, half dragging him to the kitchen.

“What are we doing?”

“Didn’t you hear me? There is a cheese ball that has been trying to seduce me all morning, and now that you guys are here I can succumb to it’s siren call.” They entered the kitchen, Jane’s mother was jumping between stirring pots, chopping veggies and peeling potatoes. Darcy made a beeline for the fridge, pulling out a plastic wrapped ball and grabbing a small plate from a nearby cabinet and putting it down on the counter with a clink.

“I do not believe this thing can seduce you, Darcy.” Darcy peeled the plastic from the ball and plopped it onto the plate. Mrs. Foster eyed him warily from where she chopped up some carrots.

“Dude,” Darcy opened and closed a few drawers until she found the one holding the silverware and grabbed a butter knife. “Have you even tried a cheese ball?” Loki quirked a fine black brow at her. “…Nevermind.” She snatched up the box of crackers and tore the box open and pulled out a sleeve. She tore open the plastic and poured the crackers on the rest of the plate, she grabbed a cracker and carefully spread the cheese on it with the knife, then she shoved the cracker in Loki’s face. “Let your taste buds be amazed.” Loki took the cracker from her, studying it as she put cheese on another one and placed it in her mouth and moaned.

Loki stifled any thoughts he had about her moaning and jammed the cracker in his mouth. He was pleasantly surprised. Darcy was grinning at him. “It is good.”

“I know, right! Oh!” She turned to Jane’s mom. “Diane, did you know that not only can Loki make bottles of wine appear out of thin air, he can also cook!” The woman gave Loki a forced smile. Loki sighed, Darcy did not seem to remember that most people still only thought of Loki as a (attempted) ruler of their world.

It was both endearing and annoying.

“I am sorry, Mrs. Foster. I know this must be a bit uncomfortable for you and your family, but trust me when I say I mean no harm.” Diane’s shoulders relaxed a bit and she nodded to him and went back to chopping vegetables.

Loki felt something wrap itself around his leg. He looked down. One of the small children had clung to his leg and was looking up at him with her big, brown eyes. “Hi,” the girl squeaked.

“Darcy, a small human has attached itself to me. What should I do?” 

Darcy looked over the counter and aww-ed at the girl, “That’s Jessie. She must like you. Say hi.”

“Hello… Jessie.” He was confused, shouldn’t she be terrified of him?

As if she had read his mind Darcy answered him, “she’s only two, she doesn’t remember the whole attempt at world domination thing.” 

“I like you.” Jessie squeezed his leg tighter.

“That’s… nice….” Loki wasn’t sure what to make of all this. Darcy giggled. There was a loud knock on the door, someone answered it and then there was the distinct whoop that could only mean Clint had arrived. Darcy and Loki smirked at eachother, Loki pried the girl off his leg and set her on the ground before following Darcy to the front of the house. 

There stood Clint, Natasha, and a very embarrassed looking Steve, along with Jane’s very confused looking aunt, who had answered the door. Then Thor came stomping down the stairs with the four other children clinging to him.

“Friends! How good it is to see you here!” Darcy could hear Jane cursing from somewhere in the other room.

Loki sighed as he felt Jessie grab on to his leg once again and babbled some nonsense into his pant leg.

A girl attached to Thor’s arm gave it a tug and whispered, “is that Captain America?” 

Thor grinned and leaned down a bit, “Ay, it is, and that is Hawkeye and the Black Widow.” The children gasped in unison.

“Aunt Jane has the COOLEST friends!” Thor chuckled.

“It’s a real party now. Look, Stevie brought pie!” Clint pointed to the white box in Steve’s hand.

“I just thought I should bring something…” Steve shrugged.

Jane’s aunt nervously stepped up to Steve, “I’ll just go and put that in the kitchen.” Steve smiled and handed it to her and she scurried away, walking between Darcy and Loki as she did. This made the others notice them.

“Loki,” Clint’s voice was venomous. Or, at least, attempted at it.

“Clint,” Loki said mockingly, with smirk.

“Have you been enjoying yourself, brother?” Thor beamed at him. Three of the kids had gone off to investigate the new arrivals, but Jake still clung to his shoulders. Thor noticed Loki’s new accessory guffawed. “I see you have made a new friend as well. I was wondering where the little one had run off too.”

Loki looked down where Jessie clung tightly to his leg, smiling up at him. “So young, yet she already has impeccable taste.” He smiled smugly and Thor shook his head at him.

“Jessie, he’s the _bad_  guy! You’re not supposed to like him!” Jake made a face at his little sister. Jessie responded by blowing a raspberry at him.

Loki chuckled softly. “Is he your big brother?” She nodded at him. “I feel your pain. Can’t live with them, can’t get rid of them without getting in trouble.” Jessie and Darcy giggled at that while Thor and Jake yelled in offence simultaneously.

Loki bent down and lifted up the small girl, resting her on his hip and began walking back to the kitchen. “You know, I beginning to think I might like you.”

Natasha leaned over and whispered into Clint’s ear, “Did Loki just make friends with a toddler?”

“I think so. Fuckin’ weird man.”

“You used a BAD WORD.” The boy perched on Steve’s shoulders yelled.

Natasha smacked the back of Clint’s head. He yelped. “Yeah, Hawkeye, there are children around!”

“Shut up, Nat.”

She smacked him again, much to the children’s enjoyment.

—-

The house was in a frenzy. A delicious smelling frenzy, but a frenzy no less.

Clint was teaching 8 year old Aaron how to shoot a slingshot with frightening accuracy. Aaron managed to hit Thor in the eye with a superball at one point, which made Clint whoop in delight. Steve was talking with Jane’s grandfather(who had shown up just a bit earlier), who was a kid during WW2 and a huge fan of Captain America. Having his childhood hero there was a pleasant surprise. Jane and Natasha were playing supergenius-spy-princesses with Jane’s young cousin, Della. Thor currently had Jake and Brian hanging on his back, making them “fly” by running around the house.

Bruce had shown up a while after the other three and was quietly watching the football game with some of Jane’s family. Jane’s mom eventually asked Loki to help her with the food, seeing as she suddenly needed to make a lot more of it, and Loki obliged. Jessie had stayed close to Loki, either by clinging to his leg or pouting until he picked her up again, Jessie’s parents had (understandably) kept poking their heads in and checking on their daughter but eventually figured that he probably wasn’t going to do anything evil to her, and she seemed perfectly happy to hang off Loki all day.

Darcy stayed out of the way, happy to eat cheese and crackers and watch Loki be attractive and helpful. So, not what she expected him to be like when Thor first dragged him down here. He was cute with the kid, too. She hated admitting that she nearly swooned a few times when Loki would do things to make Jessie laugh. It was such a stereotypical thing to do. But… It was so cute! So, she liked it when a sexy magical psychopath was cute with babies. Sue her! Damn Loki and his hotness and adorableness that came out of nowhere. Shit, she just drooled a little. Dammit Loki. There was a knock on the door.

“Got it!” Darcy called and ran to the door. Yes, get away from the sexy god before you start staring at his butt, good idea. She opened the door and in walks Tony,  Pepper close behind. 

“The party can start now, Uncle Tony is here.”

Pepper rolled her eyes and greeted Darcy, “Hey Darcy. I brought wine, where does it go?” 

“Kitchen is that way.” She pointed and Pepper ran off. Suddenly, a ball hit Tony right in the nose.

“OW! Dammit! What the hell was that?”

“That was a bulls eye, Stark.” Clint’s voice came from somewhere up high, but neither Tony or Darcy could see him.

“I SHOT IRON MAN!” Came another voice form wherever Clint was.

Pepper came back, wide-eyed and terrified looking. “Why is Loki in the kitchen? Who gave him a child?”

Darcy answered, “He’s a surprisingly good cook. And Jessie kind of attached herself to him.”

Pepper just gave her a confused look. Then Tony grabbed her by the waist and gave her his most reassuring smile, which still managed to look pretty smug. “Com’on Pep. Relax a bit. He’s obviously not causing any trouble. And if he does I’ll be here to protect you.”

“Oh, my knight in shining armor,” Pepper droned sarcastically.

“People are in there that you can talk about yourself to, Tony.” Darcy jerked her head to the side, directing him to the living room. 

“Thanks toots.” He wrapped an arm around Pepper and dragged her into the other room. Darcy went back to the kitchen, narrowly avoiding having Thor run her over and taking a legoperson to the boob before she made it to safety.

Jessie was sitting on the counter as Loki stood before her, making glowing shapes and pictures appear in the air, much to Jessie’s immense joy. Diane stood off to the side watching them with a mix of amusement and shock.

Darcy could’ve swore she heard her ovaries cry out “ _babies_.”

—-

Thanking god took an entirely different mean that day since there were two gods actually sitting at the table this time. Especially when one of those gods used magic to double the amount of food so everyone could eat their fill. The six-legged turkey was a bit freaky though.

Jane’s mom was setting the kids table as Loki and Darcy set up the main table, Loki had to conjur up a few extra chairs and make the table just a bit longer but it would work for the night. 

The children(and Clint… and Thor) were wrangled up and sat down at the smaller table, each had their own small plate filled with food. Then it was the adults’ turn each finding a seat and filling their plate.

Loki quickly stole the seat next to Darcy, which was also across from Thor. Whom was about to start digging into his food. Loki kicked his shin hard.

“OW! What was that for?” Thor whined.

Loki leaned forward and spoke to Thor in a low hiss. “You are supposed to wait until everyone has  _given thanks_ , you stupid oaf. That’s why it is called  _thanksgiving_.”

“Oh. Right, brother, thank you.” Thor looked longingly at his plate, poking his food with his fork.

Loki rolled his eyes at Thor for the millionth time and looked over at Darcy, “Have you been enjoying yourself?”

“It’s been awesome! It’s been loud and crazy and-“

“Chaotic?” Loki smiled knowingly.

“Yes.” Darcy grinned. “I now know what it’s like to be a part of a big family full of lunatics. I’m glad you invited everyone.”

The way she smiled at him made Loki’s heart pound. If he was more inclined to think that how he felt would manifest itself physically, he’d check and make sure he wasn’t floating off his seat. 

“We still need to get drunk though.”

He winked at her, reaching out and grabbed the bottle of wine he had brought. “Care to start now?”

—-

The table had been cleared, save for the pie and wine, everyone was thoroughly intoxicated and laughing at one another’s jokes and jabs. Jane’s family went from watching the Avengers (and Loki) in horrified fascination to laughing and joking along with them.

The children were off in the living room, watching a movie and napping, Steve and Jane’s grandfather were in there with them, seeing as neither of them wanted to get drunk.

Thor was in the middle of a fit of giggles, “Loki, what did you put in that wine?”

“I put nothing in there that wasn’t in there already.” Loki said with a serious face, then leaned onto Darcy and whispered-but-not-really into her ear, “I just made it a bit stronger.” 

Darcy leaned back into him and laughed loudly. “How mucsh stronger?”

Loki grabbed the empty bottle and attempted to read the label. “Uhh… A lot. I cannot read the number tho. Perhaps a bit much?”

Tony leaned forward, his elbow landed on the table loudly. “Alcohol can  _never_  be too strong. Never.” 

“Stop toucshing me Clint!” Natasha slapped Clint’s roaming hands away.

“Will you two jush make out already!?” Bruce chimed in. He was still pretty quiet and reserved as a drunk.

Darcy leaned into Loki’s side more, she was getting sleepy already, Loki was comfy. He smelled nice. When did eyelids get so heavy?

“I don’t wanna make out with her!”

Thor barked out a laughed. “You are even worse than Loki in hiding your affections!”

Loki froze, he didn’t dare glance at Darcy. “What in the nine realms are you talking about Thor?”

“Ha! I have seen the way you’ve been looking at Darcy!”

Jane looked at Loki, her eyes wide. “You like Darcy?”

Everyone stared at Loki. Save face, Loki. “I do not  _like_  her. I find her tolerable, I guess.” He said as he had an arm around her waist.

“That was a pretty terrible lie for being the  _god_  of them.” Clint pointed out.

Jane’s eyes were still wide and focused on him. “You like Darcy.”

“No.” Maybe the wine was a bad idea. He took a chance and looked down at Darcy. She was sleeping. He relaxed. She wouldn’t know about this. Thank the Norns.

“How long has it been since you attempted to court Sigyn?” Thor grinned at him lopsidedly.

“Shut up, Thor.”

“50 years? No, 100 maybe?”

“Shut up.”

“Wait, attempted?” Clint asked to Thor.

“Yes, attempted. He couldn’t-“

“Did you know Thor was married to Sif!?” It was low, but the attention needed to be taken off him.

Jane looked confused. “You were married before?”

Thor stammered, Loki continued. “They did it in secret too. I had to hide it from mother and father!”

“ _LOKI!_ ”

“ _You_  started this, brother.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Thor looked terrified. “I-I thought it unimportant. I love you _now_.”

“But why didn’t you just tell me?”

Half the table was quietly(and not-so-quietly) laughing at the antics of the table. Loki was just happy that Darcy hadn’t heard any of that. He made a note to himself: never make the wine that strong again. Ever.

—-

Steve had taken it upon himself to lock everyone in the house, since all of them were far too drunk to even take a cab home and put them to their respective beds.

That’s why Loki wound up on the floor of the Foster’s living room, Darcy snuggled next to him, with a major hangover and a weight pressing on his chest.

“Loki, you wanna pancake?” The weight talked which made his head pound. he peeled his eyes open slowly. Oh, it was Jessie.

“You wanna pancake?” She repeated. He nodded, she squealed and he nearly threw up from the pain.

There was a groan beside him. “Loki?”

“Morning, Darcy.”

“What happened? Why am I on a floor?”

“Wine.”

“Oh yeah. That was good wine.”

“Too good.”

“Shut up, both of you.” Bruce slapped Loki’s leg.

Loki smirked despite the throbbing in his head. “You know, you’re not very jolly for being a jolly green giant.” Darcy snorted.

Clint groaned from his spot on the coffee table.

Suddenly there was a little patter of feet and a plate being set on his chest. “Pancake.”

Oh, yeah. “Thank you, tiny mortal. I knew I liked you for a reason.”

“Hey, I want a pancake too.” Darcy’s voice was muffled but the rug.

“Pancake!” Jessie ran off back to the kitchen. Loki grabbed the plate and sat up slowly.

“It’s really cute.”

Loki looked at Darcy’s face, which was mashed to the floor.

“You know, Jessie liking you so much. You always like that with kids?”

“With the ones that like me.” He cut into his pancake with his fork, taking a huge bite. 

“You big softy.” He raised a brow at her.

“Just make out already!” 

“Shut up Clint or I will turn you into a real hawk.”

“You’d lose you powers.”

“It’d be worth it.”

Jessie came back in, setting a plate next to Darcy’s face and scampering off again.

“Whose making the pancakes?”

“Not sure, but they’re amazing at it.”

—-

Eventually, everyone was awake and not hungover enough to head back to their respective homes. Loki gave Jessie a little magic daisy(and Darcy tried to not swoon again) before Thor flung them both into the sky. Jane and Darcy’s car ride was quiet, and not just because they both had headaches, Jane seemed to have something on her mind and Darcy  _did not want to know_.

Both Loki and Darcy spent the rest of the day going over yesterday’s events and both wished that the other felt the way they felt.


	12. Chapter 12

About two weeks after thanksgiving had Loki sitting on his couch, watching as New York was covered with a fresh coat of heavy, wet snow. It was getting darker by the second and the thick grey clouds covering the sky only helped it along. The weather did nothing but remind him of Jotunheim and his heritage. He looked down at his hand, spreading his fingers before clenching them into a tight fist. Stupid snow.

It didn't help that Darcy had been around less often. Perhaps she had actually heard the conversation they had had when they were drunk? Maybe she was scared of the possibility of someone as horrible as him having feelings for her and decided to keep her distance? He was a monster after all. Monsters as a general rule, don't have much love in their lives.

There was a thump at his door. "Loki, it's Darcy! Open the door please! Quickly!" The urgency in her voice made Loki jump out of his thoughts and into action, running and opening the doors to what could possibly be an injured(Bleeding!? Dying??) Darcy.

Darcy was neither bleeding or dying. She was smiling and had her arms full. He let out a sigh of relief and let her in.

"Thank you for the heart attack, Darcy." She dumped the contents of her arms on the floor.

"Pfft. I bet you can't even have a heart attack." She picked up a box with a picture of a plastic evergreen tree on it, opening it on the counter and pulling out the small fake branches.

"True. But you did raise my heart rate unnecessarily. But I see that is not your only reason for being here, so I must ask: What are you doing?"

Darcy rolled her eyes and muttered, "drama queen." She started screwing pieces of the small tree together. "I am putting together your tree."

"Why do I have a tree?"

"Because I finished decorating my apartment, so I thought I'd decorate yours." She gave him a proud smile as she fluffed the plastic branches.

"My apartment is thoroughly decorated, Darcy." 

"But not for Christmas!"

"Darcy, I'm not one for Christmas cheer." He picked up a box filled with small red ornaments, turning it over in his hands and sneering at it.

"You never know Loki, maybe your like the Grinch and your heart will grow three sizes." She finished preparing the tree and grabbed a string of lights and started wrapping them around the tree.

"That is a serious medical condition Darcy, why would you wish for that to happen to me?"

"Well, aren't you jolly old elf today."

"I may be small for a giant but I am nowhere near the size of an elf." He turned the box of red ornaments green.

"What's gotten into you today?" She turned around and plucked the box from his hand. "And the other day too. Actually ever since thanksgiving you've been kind of weird." Maybe she had gotten too touchy-feely when she was drunk. What if she had said something? Oh shit, she probably said something about having a crush on him and he was all offended that some stupid mortal girl would dare think she was worthy of him. Shit. Shit shit shit.

"I am fine. You must be imagining things." That was a lie. A stupid lie. But he couldn't say anything about how much it hurt for her to push herself away from him. No matter how justified she was. Stupid mortal girl.

He was lying, he had to be. She had definitely said something and now he was back just tolerating her presence. Fuck. They had actually gotten to be kind of friends, too. Way to fuck that up. Stupid fucking crushes. She cleared her throat. Suddenly there was a bit of a lump in there. Great, Darcy. Fucking great. "Yeah, maybe," she said quietly. She finished putting the green ornaments on the tree. Green on green looks stupid, she thought. Stupid Loki and his stupid green fetish. She cleared her throat again. She had to leave. Now. Before she started crying. She grabbed her purse from the floor and made her way to the door. "Gotta go, I have a thing I just remembered I needed to go to..." She swallowed. "Uh, bye Loki." She walked out the door before she heard him say anything.

He kept his face and voice emotionless. "Goodbye then, Darcy." He yanked an ornament from the tree, examining it before throwing it at the wall and watching it shatter. Way to go Loki. Now she doesn't even want to be your friend. Now you're stuck with  _Thor_.

Darcy finally let the tears fall when she had gotten on the elevator. She let out a few sobs before willing herself to stop. What did she expect? Him to literally sweep her off her feet and kiss her like some old Hollywood movie? He was a magical psychopath with dreams of world domination for god's sake. They don't do that. She took a deep breath, wiped away the tears and went home, deciding this Christmas would be a good one to spend with her uncle. Even though he lived in Florida and she'd miss the snow.

\---

"Loki has been located. Seems he's come back to earth. What should we do?"

"We watch and wait."


	13. Chapter 13

Darcy was thankful that the next day was Thor's day to babysit Loki. She couldn't be there so soon after ... whatever that had been. It couldn't really be called a fight, it wasn't even really a conversation either. It was just some tense banter that they had been engaging in since after thanksgiving, after Darcy had taken Jane's advice and stopped spending time everyday with him. He had become so serious, instead of playing along with her little jabs like he had usually done he would shoot them down or just look at her with a blank expression. Why hadn't she figured that he knew sooner? She wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer but she could usually figure out this shit.

And why did getting not-outright-but-definitely-outright rejected by Loki feel so much crappier than with other dudes?

She was snapped out her thoughts when Jane popped up, asking her to make some copies.

\---

Being stuck with Thor again...

Sucked.

It really sucked. It was terrible and his punishment felt like a punishment again. It didn't help that it was Thor's fault that Darcy had found out about his feelings for her. Right now he could have Darcy's toes shoved under his thigh as they quietly watched(or in Loki's case, stare at the tv while fantasizing) horrible television shows.

Instead, he sat with Thor on the couch, doing his best to tune out the big blonde's yammering so he could wallow in his self pity. And imagine Darcy nestled against him. Which made him hate himself(and Thor) even more.

He hated feeling like this.

He hated that some girl could make him feel like this so fast and so suddenly.

He hated how much he wanted her near him. 

What was going to happen tomorrow, he wondered?

Would she show up? Would she speak to him? Would he be able to speak to her?

He hated himself. He hated Thor. He hated everyone.

\---

The next few encounters between Loki and Darcy were lessons in awkward. They were quiet(and not the good, relaxed quiet they usually had together) and tense to the point of jumpiness. She'd stay for as long as she could stand then come up with some weak excuse and leave in a hurry.

Both missed the longing glances they gave eachother behind their backs.

About 5 days before Christmas, Darcy left for Florida. 2 days after that Loki found out from Thor. A day after that Loki found out he was spending Christmas with Thor and the Foster family.

\---

Darcy hadn't realized how much she had missed her uncle until she was wrapped up in his strong, unevenly tanned arms. Well he had raised her, she thought, it isn't that surprising to miss him. They hugged and laughed and started catching up on what had been happening in each other's lives before they had left the airport.

He had more gray hair than the last time she had seen him but he still wore clothes that might've been rejected by Jimmy Buffet and his house was still the hippie hangout she'd grown up in. Even her room was still the same. Which she was thankful for. She wanted to feel a bit like a teenager again, terrible music taste and all. It would help her forget her current life for at least a little while. No SHIELD, no monkey butler-y and no Loki.

They did a lot of fishing, a lot of movie watching, and just a little Christmas-ing. It was wonderful, she had gotten a bit of a tan and she had only thought of Loki once, just a quick thought of what he would be doing for Christmas. She didn't let it linger though, she was sure that whatever would happen, he'd manage. 

Christmas was quiet, her uncle surprised her with bracelet of her mom's that he had found months ago, they went and saw a movie and went to a Chinese buffet for dinner.

She had a far better time than she had realized.

Too bad she'd have to go back home soon.

\---

Christmas eve with the Fosters was quieter than Thanksgiving had been. It was just Jane's parents and her brother and his family this time. Along with Thor and Loki. Her family was still a bit wary of him, but were mostly welcoming to him.

Well, one member was very welcoming.

"Hi." Jessie climbed into the chair in the corner of the living room that Loki had planted himself in, sitting in his lap and seeming to either be unaffected or ignoring the slight scowl on his face.

"Hello, little Jessie." His voice was low and soft.

She sat there and stared at him with her big brown eyes for a moment. "You sad?"

He looked at her, then the rest of the room, everyone was distracted by whatever conversations they were having or games they were playing. He was probably going to feel pathetic in the morning for confiding in a toddler, but there weren't many others who were offering a sympathetic ear. "Yes."

"Why you sad?" He little eyebrows rose up on her forehead as she continued to stare at him.

"There's pretty girl I like and she doesn't like me back. I think I scared her away."

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "But you're not scary."

He laughed softly. "Trust me, I can be very terrifying."

"But you're a prince?"

He laughed at her again, "yes, I am. Doesn't mean I can't be a terrifying monster though."

She heaved a dramatic little sigh. "Belle liked beast and he was a _real_  monster."

Loki looked at her with a confused expression. "Who?"

Jessie rolled her eyes and slid off his lap, running off for a minute before returning with a storybook in her hands. She climbed back into his lap and opened the well-worn book pointing at the cartoon images to show Loki. "Das Belle and das beast."

He held out his hand and she handed him the book, he skimmed the story, the girl really did fall for the prince as a beast. I was a sweet sentiment, but this was reality and pretty girls didn't fall for monsters and live happily ever after. Still, he smiled as he handed the girl back her book. "That's a nice story."

"I know." She sat there for a minute, looking as contemplative as a two year old can get before blurting out, "just kiss her."

He looked at her with a bit of shock and confusion. "What?"

"If you like her, just kiss her. Maybe she'll like you if you do that."

He chuckled and rolled his eyes. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind if I see her again."

She smiled brightly at him. "Read me a Christmas story, Loki?" She was already off his lap and running to get the book before he had a chance to answer. 

\---

Thor and Jake were playing a surprisingly physical game of go fish as Jane sat and watched Loki and Jessie from the other side of the room. She had been thinking of Darcy's sudden sullen mood that had been growing over the past few weeks. And she had just noticed how down Loki was too. She watched as Loki cracked open a big book and began reading to Jessie. It had been the first time he had smiled all night. Jane was trying to think of what could have happened that would've changed things.

Darcy had a crush on Loki. She knew that for sure. Did he say something and kill her crush? But then, he wouldn't be sad too.

She tapped Thor's arm and he turned from whatever strange dance he had to do for losing. "Yes, my love?"

She asked in a low voice, "has Loki been depressed lately?"

Thor shrugged. "He always seems to be in an unpleasant mood to me..." He thought for a moment. "Although he does seem to have been a bit more dark than usual. Literally, he keeps the curtains closed all the time now."

Jane stood and whispered, "has he said anything about Darcy at all?"

Thor shook his head and said, "no, not at all. Go fishing Jake." His brows furrowed. "Which is odd, he spoke of her quite often before."

Jane was even more confused now. "Jake, I'm gonna need to steal Thor for a minute." Jake was about to whine and protest but she shot him a look and his mouth clamped shut instantly. She grabbed Thor's arm, dragging him to the dining room. She began pacing back and forth in front of him. "Darcy hasn't been quite  _Darcy_  since thanksgiving... And apparently, Loki hasn't been either... Somthing happened."

Thor rubbed his chin, trying to think of anything Loki might've mentioned. Problem was Loki barely talked when he was around.

"Darcy has a crush on Loki... Or had, possibly." Jane continued to pace, then stopped when a memory from Thanksgiving suddenly resurfaced. Darcy was past out on Loki's shoulder, Thor had said something about the way Loki had been looking at Darcy and Loki looked like he had just been caught in the middle of a crime. He liked Darcy. "He likes Darcy too!"

Thor's eyebrow twitched and then his eyes lit up with sudden realization. "Perhaps there was a miscommunication of some sort?" 

"Maybe." Jane thought for a minute. "Loki, isn't probably gonna talk about this with anyone and Darcy isn't gonna be back for a few more days..."

"Tony is having a New Years party," Thor offered. "I could bring Loki. You could bring Darcy and..."

"Force them to talk about it?"

"We could get them drunk first?"

"This could end terribly."

"It couldn't end anymore terribly than anything else my brother has involved himself in."

Jane took a deep breath. "So, New Years..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to say a quick THANK YOUAHDSJHDVJSCV to everyone who's been reading/commenting/kudos-ing/bookmarking/subscribing. It makes me SO HAPPY and keeps me writing. Askahbjhsdv I love you.


	14. Chapter 14

Darcy had her cellphone pinned between her ear and her shoulder as she stuck her frozen dinner in the microwave. "Jane, I've only been back since yesterday. I'm not really in a big party mood...."

Darcy's eyebrows furrowed as she punched the keys on the keypad too hard. "I have not been acting  _weird_..."

"I don't really care that all the guys are gonna be there, I'm gonna see them when we get back to work anyways." She leaned against the table. She examined her arm, she had gotten a pretty nice tan.

"I was gone for barely two weeks, no one could've missed me that much." She rolled her eyes at Jane's answer. 

"Jane, come one, I'm really tired and I don't feel like putting a bra on..."

"No, Jane, I am not going any where near Stark without a bra on. Or Clint."

She sighed, running a hand through her messy hair. "You're just gonna end up making out with Thor in a corner all night...'

"You promise?"

"Okay,  _maybe_. Call me in a few hours." The microwave buzzed.

"My breakfast is done. Talk to you later. Bye."

She pulled out the little plastic tray poking the middle of the food cautiously. "Ew, it's still cold." She shoved it back in and set the timer for another minute.

\---

"It'll be fun, Loki!"

Loki just stared at Thor, expression unreadable. "I highly doubt it will be fun if you are around."

"Loki, come on..."

"No."

"Please?"

"Why would I want to go to a party where everyone will either hate me or at the very least be wary of me?"

Thor stayed silent, his face screwed up in confusion as he tried to think of something to refute him. He couldn't.

Loki smirked and laughed.

Then Thor smiled, straightening and puffing out his chest. "It matters not, you are still under my watch. I will take you with me since I need to keep an eye on you."

Loki's eye's narrowed, smirk disappearing from his face as Thor's smile widened.

"I shall come and pick you up in a few hours then." Thor had his pleased-with-himself grin plastered on his face as he waltzed out of Loki's door. Leaving Loki to fume alone.

It would almost be worth losing his powers to set Thor's hair on fire.  _Almost._

_\---_

"Did you get Loki to agree to come?"

Thor smiled at Jane. "He will be coming. Did you get Darcy to come along too?"

Jane's eyes narrowed at Thor for a moment. "Are you-? You know what? Nevermind. As long as he's there. And yes, I think I've got Darcy convinced."

"What now?"

"We wait."


	15. Chapter 15

"No. You are  _not_  going to a Tony Stark Party dressed like  _that_." Jane gave Darcy a very disappointed once-over from inside the threshold of her apartment.

"Well, hello,  _I missed you too._ " Darcy said sarcastically. She looked over herself, she wore dark jeans and a big, thick, sweater. It wasn't bad. But it wasn't like the little red dress Jane was wearing. At all. So what, she wasn't in the mood to party.

"Come one, let's find something for you to wear." Jane practically stomped in and grabbed Darcy's arm, dragging her to her tiny bedroom. Jane sat Darcy onto her bed and flung open the doors of her closet and began digging threw the wall of loose-fitting t's and cardigans. "Jesus, Darcy, you've got to have something in here..."

Darcy flopped back onto her bed with a loud sigh, "you are on your own with that, Jane. Have fun."

Jane disappeared into the dark depths of her closet, the only indication that she hadn't suffocated being the soft grunts coming from behind a grouping of striped sweaters. Darcy idly pulled at a loose thread on her sweater. Suddenly, Jane's hand shoot out from the closet, a piece of dark fabric clenched in her fist.

"HA! A skirt! A  _mini_  skirt!" Jane threw the garment at Darcy, who groaned as it fell to her lap, and spoke to it quietly, "I knew I should've thrown you out."

Darcy had to wait even longer for Jane to find a top for her to wear that wasn't: An oversized t-shirt. An oversized sweater. 

Jane eventually came out with three tops. The first was rejected outright and thrown out, a bustier that Darcy had bought in attempts to seduce a one time crush. It turned out horribly for Darcy. The second was a sequined tank top that Darcy had bought on a whim(and while high on cough medicine - NyQuil and late night internet net shopping is a terrible idea) and it just barely fit over her boobs. Not to mention it itched something fierce. The third, and thusly, only option was a tight fitting purple turtle neck sweater that, despite showing absolutely no cleavage, managed to make her boobs look obscene. 

So, with a loud sigh from Darcy, Jane violently shoved Darcy into her bathroom and waited for her to get dressed. Jane bounced in her heels when Darcy made her way out of the room, barefoot and bare-legged. 

"Okay! Now hair and makeup." Jane stepped up and started playing with Darcy's hair.

"Jane, I could be wearing a Nixon mask and no one would notice. I don't think it matters."

"Aww, come on, at least try to have some fun with this. You never know what might happen." Jane said as decided on a hairstyle, pinning the front of it up and away from her face, letting the rest fall down in waves like usual. Darcy rolled her eyes.

After some liberal lipgloss and mascara application and a bit of eyeliner(no foundation, her tan rendered it too light and the glasses were scraped for contacts on Jane's insistence) she put on her nicest, heeled boots, which were thankfully knee-high, so that only her exposed thighs would get frost bite.

Darcy and Jane threw on their coats and ran into the waiting cab so they wouldn't freeze to death in the 5 seconds they had to be out in the bitter cold.

The streets were already packed with partiers as they were driven to the swanky hotel Tony was taking over for the night, and the streets only got more and more packed with people the closer they got. They nearly hit a few already-too-drunk-to-walk people by the time they finally got their. They couldn't miss their destination, the front of the hotel was lit with huge lights, displaying the Stark Industries label brightly against the hotel's windows. 

"Those people probably hate Tony Stark tonight." Jane nodded her head as they slipped out of the cab, both handing a bit of money to the cabbie before he screeched off and they quickly jogged into the hotel, heels clacking.

They took the elevator up to the floor that the party was being held in silence. Jane was nearly shaking from excitement. Darcy felt suspicious.

Darcy narrowed her eyes at the other woman. "Why are you so excited?"

Jane shrugged, trying to look nonchalant, but failed because she couldn't keep the beaming smile off her face. "It's just... I'm just in the mood to dance is all."

Darcy's eye narrowed further. "Are you up to something?"

" _Pfft, no._  Why would you think I'm up to something? I just am really in the mood to dance."

Darcy let it go, but kept a wary eye on Jane. Then the elevator finally arrived on their floor and the doors opened with a ping. Right into the party. Music was playing. Loud enough to dance to, if desired, but not loud enough to be annoying or make it impossible to talk. And it was huge. And already pretty damn packed with people. The lights were low and cast a warm glow over the party. Waiters walked around with trays of champagne and food. Darcy grabbed a glass as one of them sped by.

Jane's eyes were scanning the crowd. Looking for Thor, Darcy thought. "Forget the superhero-ing and the inventing stuff,  _this_  is what Tony is good at." Darcy took a sip of the champagne and moaned. Okay, this night had potential. 

\---

Loki sat at one of the many tables littering the room, taking small sips of his drink as Thor grinned stupidly next to him.

"Your woman is not currently not in your lap and attempting to suck the lips off your face. What has you so happy?" Loki inquired as he took a longer sip of his drink.

"Why can I not just be happy to be here, brother?"

Loki stared at him for a minute. Thor usually was happy, sure. Stupidly happy, definitely. But there was a glint in his eyes Loki finally recognized. He was hiding something. He wasn't sure what, but he intended to find out.

"You are hiding something from me, Thor." Thor's eyebrows rose minutely at that and he quickly took another sip of his beer. So, he was hiding something. Now to find out what it was. "Have you impregnated Jane?"

Thor's drink sprayed from his mouth and he choked, attracting a few curious looks that turned into terrified looks as soon as they laid eyes on Loki, and they walked away quickly. He couldn't help but smile at the reactions he inspired. 

"No! No. Valhalla,  _no_. Why would you think  _that_?" Thor sputtered out, clearing his throat again. 

Okay, so Jane wasn't pregnant. Thankfully. He wasn't sure Jane's mortal genes would cancel out Thor's ...  _Thorness._  "It's the look on your face. You seem far too happy. I figured you be more than a little excited to become a father and that'd you'd announce it during some huge event such as this." Loki shrugged, taking another sip, "guess I was wrong."

Thor shook his head and threw back the rest of his beer in one gulp, putting the empty bottle back on the table. They sat in silence. Thor watched the crowd intently while Loki studied Thor's face and tried to figure what Thor could possibly have up his stretched out sleeve. Then, when he saw a flash of red in the crowd and Thor's stupid grin returned to his face, he realized.

_Oh._

\---

Darcy was finishing her second glass of champagne when Jane grabbed her arm and started pulling her through the crowd without a word. And suddenly a booming voice assaulted her ears.

"Jane! Darcy!" Thor scooped them both up for a hug, a giant grin nearly splitting his face. He put them down, giving Jane a chaste kiss on the lips before moving to sit back down. Next to Loki. Who was studying his drink with an intensity of a scientist studying an alien life-form.

Darcy. Darcy was here. Right in front of him. Wearing the single most provocative outfit he had ever seen her in. He nearly dropped his glass when his eyes focused on her bare thighs. He couldn't look up. He had no idea what might happen if he got a good look at the rest of her. Thor was taunting him, surely. He must've noticed Loki's more sour mood, connected the dots and decided to torture him. Dangle what he couldn't have right in front of him in a short skirt and a tight sweater. It was cruel. It was decidedly very un-Thor. He wasn't sure if he should be proud or set his hair on fire. He kind of wanted to do both. His drink was empty. He used magic to refill it and closed his eyes as he threw his head back and drank it all in one swig. He needed to be at least close to drunk to handle this.

He was completely avoiding looking at her. Weirdly enough that made her feel more naked and insecure than the shortness of the skirt she was wearing. Jane grabbed her hand and yanked her down into the seat next to Loki. Damn Jane. Jane sat next to Thor and the two started talking quietly to eachother. Shit. What should she do? She cleared her throat and glanced at Loki, who was still staring down his drink. She needed more champagne. Yes! There was an escape! She needed another drink. She grabbed her glass and began to stand, Jane's head whipped around to look at her. "I need to get more champ-" Just then a waiter swooped in, snatching her empty glass and replacing it with a full one. She plopped back down into the chair. Damn Tony.

He glanced at her when she went moved to get away. Bad idea. Terrible idea. Okay, at least he'd have something to think of as he tried to sleep tonight. That sweater hugged every curve far too well. How could a garment simultaneously leave so much to the imagination while leaving almost nothing to the imagination? It was horrible and wonderful.

She dared herself to just take a quick look at him. She had to force her lungs to keep breathing. He sat like he always did, legs splayed obscenely wide, his black suit pants stretching over his-No, Darcy. Don't focus on that. Bad things will happen. His black suit jacket was open, exposing his borderline-tight green( _of course_  it's green) dress shirt. Was it silk? It was shiny but not that weird, cheap satin-y shine. It was probably silk. He  _would_  wear a green silk shirt. With a few buttons undone. She wanted to whine. Why was Jane doing this to her? She new he had a crush on him. She thought is was bad! What was she trying to do? She cleared her throat again.

Loki's eyes moved to her again. Her hair was half up, exposing her much more tanned face. Which was also free from her glasses. Her eyes looked even brighter without the little pieces of glass to block them. A smattering of barely-there freckles spread across her nose and cheeks, it made him wonder what other areas might've been exposed to the sun and if freckles had bloomed there too. Which lead to thoughts of his mouth exploring those areas. He looked back into his drink. No. His mind was not allowed to go there. Maybe later. And then he'd take a cold shower.

"I think it's time to dance!" Jane grabbed Darcy, pulling her threw the crowd again. Darcy thought she was getting yanked around a lot tonight, but let it continue anyways. But she relaxed, happy to be away from the awkward situation that was Loki. 

Until they stopped and Thor swept her away, leaving her with Loki, who looked as uncomfortable as she felt. They stood there looking at everything but each other. Darcy looked back to Thor and Jane, who were watching them with rapt attention. Shit, were they in on this together? What the hell was going on? They continued to stand there, not looking at each other, until Darcy felt Jane kick her hard in the back of her knee, making her fall forward. Loki caught her by the shoulders. He squeezed her gently as he helped her regain her balance, his eyes were focused on her shoulder. 

He swallowed before finally, speaking to her. "I don't think they will stop until we dance with each other." Darcy nodded, taking another glance behind her, they were still watching them, and being the opposite of subtle about it. 

He put a hand on her waist and took her hand in his. She put her free hand on his shoulder and they began to sway slowly. They both kept their eyes over the other's shoulders.

"So, when did you figure out they were both in on this?" She asked nervously, she kept looking over his shoulder even when his gaze turned to her.

"When, you and Jane showed up. I figured Thor had been up to something just a bit before that." He continued to watch her face, his expression neutral and unreadable.

"I had a feeling Jane was up to something when we got here. She was  _way_  too excited."

Loki laughed a little at that. "Thor was too."

They danced in silence for a few minutes. Not noticing that their bodies slowly swayed closer and closer, until they were just barely pressed against each other. The song they were dancing to stopped and Tony jumped up onto the small stage area with a microphone. Loki and Darcy noticed how close they were and quickly pulled away, acting as though Tony was about to give an important speech.

"He is drunk." Loki noted.

_"Okay, so now that I've fulfilled Pepper's contractually obligated classy music quota..."_

"Definitely," Darcy added.

 _"...let's have some fun!"_  Tony pushed the DJ aside and an AC/DC song started blaring through the room.

Well. Darcy was the only person her that wasn't at least halfway terrified of him and also wasn't Thor. He should at least try to be friends again. He leaned down close to her ear. "Drink?" Darcy turned to look at Loki with a confused expression. He pointed towards the bar. "Want to go get a drink?" Darcy nodded. 

He lead her towards the bar, glaring at any men who stared at her assets. Just because he couldn't have her, didn't mean  _others_  could have her. At least, not tonight. They got up to the bar, the bartender hid his fear of Loki surprisingly well, but just as Loki was about to order Darcy held her hand up.

"Two shots of the strongest stuff you've got." The bartender looked a little concerned, but walked away and quickly came back with two shot glasses filled with a mystery liquid.

Darcy picked up her glass and with a deep breath tipped her head back and swallowed her shot, wincing right after. Loki followed suit.

His brows furrowed. "Oh, that actually burned a bit. What was that?" He asked Darcy.

"No clue." She leaned on the bar. "Yo, barkeep. I need something fruity and pink, stat." 

Loki added, "I'll take a scotch, straight."

A couple moments later and they both had fresh drinks in their hands and had turned around to watch the party unfold before them.

They stayed like that for a long time. Just drinking and watching the party. Slowly, the tension started to melt away as the alcohol worked  _it's_  magic.

Another slow song finally came on(it was noted that Pepper had taken control of the music at that point) and Loki, either from boredom or liquid courage, held his hand out to Darcy.

She looked at his hand the then his face. He smiled. "Care to dance again?"

After a moment's hesitation she smiled back and took his hand. "Sure."

He led her out to the middle of the dance floor and the resumed the position from before, but more comfortably this time. They swayed to the beat slowly.

She wondered if he wore cologne or just used magic because Darcy thought he smelled terrific. "Wow, you smell  _really_  nice." Wait. She didn't want to say that. Shitballs. Damn alcohol.

Loki froze. What? She thought he smelled nice? They've barely spoken to each other and that's the first thing she says? He couldn't say that he wasn't happy about it though. He relaxed and smirked. "I could say the same thing about you." 

Wait, he thought she smelled nice too? This must be some sort of breakthrough. Darcy smiled probably a bit too widely than what the compliment called for, but she didn't care. She was kinda drunk and he thought she smelled nice.

They danced for a long time, neither of them really paid attention to the time. Or anything else, really. So, when the music screeched to a halt they both jumped a bit. Once again Tony was one the mic, even more drunk than he was earlier.

 _"It'sh almos midnigh! You know wha tha means righ? I hope you all got someone to make ou with... Wha? Shh, Pepper I'm fine! I was juss warning everyone-Pepper STAHP!"_  At that point Steve manhandled Tony off the stage and Pepper took over on the mic.  _"Sorry about that you guys. He meant to say there's just five more minutes till new years."_  Pepper handed the mic back to the DJ and walked off stage to yell at Tony.

Nerves bubbled up in Loki's stomach. He felt hot all of a sudden. He needed air. He scanned the room, far off on the other end was a large balcony. He turned to Darcy who was watching him curiously. He swallowed hard. "I need some air."

Okay, he was gonna avoid doing the whole kissing at midnight thing. Right. She should've expected that. She can handle being in a room with a bunch of kissing and hollering people. Totally. She nodded. "Oh, okay."

It was a long shot but - "Would you like to come with?"

"Yes." She answered without a second thought.

He smiled at that, albeit nervously, and led her to the empty balcony. Music, shouting, and noise makers could be heard from all directions. The big ball was glowing just a little ways away, getting ready to drop at any moment.

Darcy hugged herself, it was way too cold for this outfit. Loki was a couple feet away from her, looking deep in thought. Her teeth began to chatter and it snapped him out of his thoughts. 

"Oh, you must be freezing. I'm sorry, here-" He grabbed her shoulders and warmth flooded over Darcy's body, she sighed happily.

"Thanks." She laughed softly.

"If you want to go back inside I'd understand.."

"No."

"Alright..."

The next words that came out of Darcy's mouth without even thinking. "I'm sorry I ruined or sort-of friendship by getting a crush on you!" She clamped her hands over her mouth. Well, better now than never?

Loki's eyes widened and his jaw went slack and he just stared at her. She thought  _she_  had ruined their friendship? She had a crush on  _him_?

She continued before he had a chance to say anything, "I know I'm just some stupid little mortal hired by your brother to bug you but I couldn't help it! You were nice to me after a while and funny! And hot!" She slapped her hands over her mouth again.

"You have feelings for me?" Loki squeezed her arms. He could hardly believe it. 

She just nodded.

Loki laughed. She looked terrified.

"Darcy... the past weeks have been terrible without you. I thought you had heard Thor speaking of the affections I had been showing to you and were horrified to have some monster fall for you..." 

_10..._

_9..._

Her hands dropped from her mouth. "So we've been...? God Loki, we're really fucking stupid..."

_8..._

_7..._

Loki laughed loudly, "it seems that we are."

_6..._

_5..._

They just stood there, staring at each other in disbelief. The air was filled with tension and the sounds of people counting as the ball dropped.

_4..._

_3..._

_2..._

_1..._

The sounds of cheering and singing filled the air.

Loki kissed her, pulling her close and wrapping her arms around her. Darcy tilted her head, deepening the kiss, her hands grabbing the lapels of his jacket and pulled him closer to her. One of his hands moved to her neck, tilting her head back and letting his tongue dart into her mouth before pulling back. Darcy's eyes shot open, wondering if something was wrong. Loki's eyebrows were furrowed and he was looking inside at the party.

"I'm going to have to thank my brother for this aren't I?"


	16. Chapter 16

"Holy shit, are Loki and Darcy making out?"

"Possibly, but I  _am_  pretty drunk."

"No, seriously Clint, is that Loki and Darcy?"

Clint squinted. "Yep. That's definitely them."

"At least they finally took the 'just make out already' advice."

"This has to be the least punishing punishment known to mankind. Or godkind." Clint grumbled and downed his drink.

"Holy shit they just vanished. Should we be worried?"

"Let Thor deal with it. Now come on, it's New Years and I haven't kissed anyone yet. C'mere Tasha."

Natasha stepped on his foot and walked away.

\---

"I have lost track of Loki and Darcy."

"Me too. Is that a good thing or bad thing?"

Thor thought a moment and shrugged. "I can imagine it going either way."

Jane looked worried. "Let's go look for them."

\---

The noises of the party suddenly disappeared, the air she breathed felt warm and before she could even think to react she felt herself being laid down gently onto a bed. She opened her eyes and saw the white ceiling behind Loki's head. She did her best to look around, try to figure out where she was. Get her bearings. She caught some glimpses of green. Must be Loki's place.

She pushed his shoulders until he(very reluctantly) broke the kiss. He looked down at her with confusion(and perhaps if it wasn't the lighting playing tricks, a bit of fear), she said as steadily as she could, "can't you get in trouble for this?"

He laughed, his eyes scanning her body before answering a bit breathlessly, "it would be worth it." He kissed her softly and whispered against her lips, " _very_  worth it."

His lips were on hers again, harder and more insistent. His hands stayed on the same spot on her back and their bodies just barely touched, much to Darcy's displeasure. She pulled on his jacket, he was unmoved. She arched her back, trying to press her breasts into his chest, he arched just out of her reach. 

 _Tease_ , she thought. He smirked against her lips.

She moved her legs, her thigh brushed his crouch and his body went rigid. She smirked against his lips. His hands finally moved, sliding around and going to her breasts. Darcy grabbed his wrists and pushed them down to her waist. 

He lifted himself above her again, his face face stern and voice a soft low growl, " _stop teasing_."

"Promise?" She smiled up at him. He laughed quietly before descending upon her lips again, stopping and sitting up as soon as he moved to her neck.

"This damn sweater has been torturing me all night." He played with the hem of it between his thumb and forefinger, looking at the fabric thoughtfully before yanking it and making the sweater tear into shreds. His eyes became glued to the nude lace bra she was wearing.

Darcy gasped and scowled at Loki. "Excuse me, but how am I supposed to do a proper walk of shame tomorrow with no shirt?"

Loki's eyes slid back up to her face and gave her his most naughty smile. "What makes you think you'll be able to walk tomorrow?"

Darcy shivered. "Oh-" Loki covered her mouth with his before she had a chance to say anything else, his tongue darting in and out of her mouth and sweeping it along her bottom lip.

Darcy pushed his jacket down his arms and he shook it off, tossing it to the side. Her hands were tangling his hair as he kissed his way down her neck and chest. His  hands went to her back again, unfastening her bra and pulling it off. His hands slid down her sides, his fingers hooking onto the waistband of her skirt and pulling them down, her panties going off with it. He sat up, his hands gripping her hips gently as he practically devoured her with his eyes. 

Darcy smiled and sat up, her slightly shaky hands going to his shirt and unbuttoning it as fast as she could. He helped, untucking the shirt from his pants and unbuttoning the bottom buttons, meeting her halfway. Her smile was gleeful as she rubbed her hands up and down his chest. He yanked the shirt off and let it drop to the floor, standing as he went to work on his belt and slacks. 

Darcy smirked as he pulled his pants down. "Why am I not surprised that you go commando?"

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "I take my pants off and  _that's_  what you notice?"

"Well, that  _is_  impressive. Befitting of a god, even. But I can't be really wowed until I know that  _you_  know how to wield it." She said teasingly, winking at him.

"Are you challenging me? You silly mortal girl." He smiled at her as he climbed back onto the bed, sitting between her thighs.

"Maybe I am."

He bent over her, kissing her softly and whispering, "let me prove that I am very capable of wielding my power." His hand slid down her belly and she twitched when his fingers grazed her, his fingers dipping down inside her once and before pulling them out and tracing lightly over her clit. His mouth went to her breasts, sucking one nipple into his mouth while thumbing over the other with his free hand.

His fingers were agonizingly slow as they thrust in and out of her, she whined and moaned, but refused to beg him for more. Which was annoying Loki now, he was losing his patience, every noise she made sent another pang of arousal straight down to his already painfully hard cock. 

It went on for another few minutes before she made a particularly arousing needy noise and he gave in, grabbing her hips before pushing into her with one thrust and rutting like an animal. He latched onto her neck, biting and sucking a mark onto it before moving to another spot and repeating the process there. 

Darcy arched her back and grabbed onto Loki's shoulders, her short nails scraping his skin. She moaned obscene gibberish into his ear, making him groan and thrust harder.

She moaned his name very loudly on a well placed thrust and suddenly he was coming inside her with a shudder. He collapsed on top of her, breathing heavily on her neck as she squirmed beneath him, still very aroused.

"Just a moment, darling. I need to collect myself." He panted onto her collarbone, laying a kiss on it.

"That went faster than I-"

"It's been a while." He lifted his head to look at her, lazy smirk on his face. "And I am no where  _near_  finished with you."

\---

Darcy felt the sheet slide down her back and a pair of soft lips planting light kisses down her spine. She opened one eye to look at the time. 7:19 am. Barely three hours since she and Loki had finally went to sleep. He placed two feather-light kisses on each dimple at the base of her spine.

"Loki," she groaned.

"Morning, love." She could feel his breath against her skin, it made her shiver.

"Three hours. Not even that." She could feel his nearly silent chuckle on her hip.

"You have all day to sleep." He kissed her hip and turned her on her back. She groaned again. 

He kissed her knee. "Fear not, all you have to do is lie back and let me do the work." He flicked his tongue on her inner thigh and her breath hitched. He slowly kissed down her legs until he reached her pussy, his lips just barely grazing her. His tongue flicked her clit, her body jerked in response. His tongue flicked her repeatedly until she was gasping and pulling his hair, trying to pull him closer.

"More, darling?" She managed to eke out a pathetic little whine. 

"Since you asked so nicely." His head dipped back down, licking a long line against her inner lips with the flat of his tongue before surrounding her clit with his lips and sucking. She twisted and arched her back, one hand fisted tightly into his hair and the other in the sheets. He slipped two fingers inside her and swirled his tongue and she keened, clamping her thighs around his head. She could feel him huff and suck a bit harder, making her buck into him as she felt herself already getting closer to her climax. He flicked his tongue again, thrusting and twisting his fingers inside her faster until she couldn't hold back and came yelling Loki's name. He continued until she was twitching and pushing his head away. 

He crawled up and laid next to her and rubbed his scalp gently. "I thought you liked my hair. I think you may have ripped some of it out." 

"If you keep waking me up like that, I can't be blamed for any bald spots you get." She said sleepily, eyes already closing as she snuggled into Loki's chest.

He chuckled, brushing her hair away from her face before kissing her temple. "I guess I have to look forward a future with baldness then."

She hummed happily before falling asleep again.

\---

Thor went wide eyed when he saw Loki's head between Darcy's thighs. He slapped his hands over his eyes and somehow managed to not knock anything over as he hastily backed out of Loki's apartment and shut the door silently.

He only opened his eyes when he made it to the elevator, he rubbed them with the heels of his hands, trying to push the images out of his head. His phone rang as the elevator doors opened.

"Yes, Jane, I found Darcy... and Loki."

"They're... fine."

"Trust me Jane. They are fine."


	17. Chapter 17

It was the first monday back at SHIELD and Darcy was happy to be back. Even if it meant she had to be away from Loki. And his tongue. His magical tongue.

She dug around the fridge in the break room, trying in vain to find something to snack on that wasn't moldy or slightly radiated. She shut the door and screamed when she saw Natasha standing there, smiling ever-so-slightly at her. It was deeply unsettling.

"Jesus Christ, Natasha! You trying to give me a heart attack?"

Natasha's smirk grew a bit. "Have a good New Years?"

"Um, yeah? You?" She was confused, and slightly terrified.

"Look, did you fuck Loki or not?" Came Clint's voice from somewhere. Darcy looked around. He was lounging on top of the cabinets, eating a donut.

"Very subtle, Clint." He winked at Natasha, who rolled her eyes.

"Holy shit Clint how'd you get there? And where'd you get the donut?"

"Answer my question and I'll you."

"It's none of your business!"

"So you did?" Natasha was looking at her like she was studying her. "Was it good?"

"Tash, he's a villain, remember?" 

"I... I... That's personal information!" Darcy wrapped her sweater around herself tightly.

"Ooh, he's that good?"

Darcy sputtered.

"He BRAINWASHED me!"

"And I'm starting to think he should do it again."

Darcy threw her hands up. "I am leaving now." Leaving Clint and Natasha to bicker.

\---

"Why won't you look at me, Thor?"

Thor looked flustered. "No reason brother."

Loki narrowed his eyes at him. "What's the matter Thor?"

"Nothing," He muttered.

Loki smirked. "Something has happened. What was it?"

Thor muttered and blushed a bit.

"What was that?"

"I saw something." He said more clearly.

"What would that be?"

He muttered again.

"Now Thor, I know you know how to speak as a prince should. Now speak."

"Alright. I saw you and Darcy..." He trailed off, letting his hand gestures speak for themselves.

Loki's eyebrows creeped up his forehead. "How did you see that?"

"It was an accident! I swear it! Jane was worried since she hadn't seen you or Darcy leave the party so I told her I'd check here! I did not intend to walk in on you pleasuring her!"

Loki snickered, "I always told you you should knock, Thor."

"I think I have finally learned."

Loki took a deep breath. "Now, Thor, I have something I want to tell you just once. I want you to listen well."

Thor nodded and leaned in. Looking very interest in what he was going to say.

"Thank you... brother. If you had not dragged me to Stark's party and forced me to be around Darcy neither one of us would've found out that our feelings were mutual."

"You called me brother."

"Just this one time, Thor. Don't expect it to be-" He was swept up into a crushing hug by Thor, whose smile could likely be seen from space.

\---

"Um, hi Loki?" Loki held Darcy by the throat against the wall. Which was terrifying. She thought things were going pretty well. He smirked at her, looked off to the corner and winked at her. That's when she realized he wasn't choking her, she actually couldn't even really feel his hand on her neck. She was floating. What the hell was he doing?

Then his hands were on her thighs wrapping them around his waist and his mouth was on hers.

He sure does know how to greet a girl, she thought as his tongue did a thing on her tongue that mimicked something he did on something that  _was not_  her tongue.

He groaned and grinded into her when she did something in his tongue that mimicked something she did on not-his-tongue.

And then Steve and Tony crashed through the door.

Loki broke away, but kept himself pressed against Darcy, he was a bit breathless as he spoke, "hello boys."

"What the fuck?" Tony was out of breath.

"You were gonna kill her!" 

Loki scoffed. "No I wasn't. To kill anything that possessed breasts as lovely as Darcy's would truly be a crime against all the nine realms."

Loki looked down at said breasts, getting a bit distracted by them. Darcy watched the scene unfolding before her in confusion(and just a bit aroused).

"The fuck?" Tony said again.

Loki broke out his revere to look back at the two other men. "Now, if you'll excuse us, I'd like to take her against this wall." Okay, now Darcy was more than a bit aroused.

Tony and Steve backed out slowly, closing the door behind them. 

Before Darcy could ask Loki what the hell that was, their clothing was gone and he was sliding inside her and she couldn't even think anymore.


	18. Chapter 18

"Loki has a mortal women now. Perhaps we could use this to our advantage. Surely he would do much for her. Especially of she was in danger."

There was a deep laugh. "No, you are thinking far too predictably. This is Loki. The little trickster deserves something a little more creative than that."

"Do you have an idea?"

"Yes."

\---

It was quiet. Maybe too quiet.

Not a single bad thing had happened in months.

Not that Darcy had been paying much attention, though. She had been keeping herself busy for the past couple months practicing her Naked Bed Wrestling techniques with Loki.

So Darcy was really caught off guard when she went to greet Jane one monday morning in her office to find Jane not there.

And her office completely destroyed. Papers everywhere, computer smashed, her big, heavy desk flipped over, It looked like the Hulk went all... Hulk on it.

She ran to the lab, hoping someone would be in there.

Bruce was looking at a screen and idly tapping away on it when Darcy barged in. "Have you seen Jane?"

"No, I thought she'd be with you?" He began to look slightly worried at her expression.

She shook her head. "I just got here. Her office is destroyed Bruce. Have you heard anything?"

Now he looked even more worried. "No, nothing." 

"Do you know where Thor is?"

He shook his head.

She grabbed her cellphone, forcing herself to stay calm. There had to be an explanation. After a few minutes of ringing it went to Jane's voicemail. She tried Thor's. It went to voicemail. She looked at Bruce. 

"Just stay calm. Let's go check their place before we... freak out."

She swallowed and nodded.

\---

The apartment was even more destroyed than Jane's office. Everything was broken and Mjolnir was laying in the middle of the floor.

The worst was the small spatters of blood on the walls.

A fight had happened in here. A bad one. Bad enough that Thor had to leave Mjolnir behind.

And Thor and Jane were nowhere to be found.

Darcy had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Bruce grabbed his phone out of his pocket. "I'm calling everyone in."

\---

"Loki, Thor and Jane are gone. Her office and apartment are destroyed and mewmew is here and there's blood and we can't find them..."

The fear in Darcy's voice made him straighten. "Darcy, please, slow down. What is wrong?" 

"Thor and Jane are gone!" Her voice cracked. 

"I'll be there... now." He said as he appeared in front of a nearly crying Darcy. He dropped his phone and grabbed her, hugging her close to his chest before he observed the surroundings. The Avengers, stood around them. Looking confused and a bit fearful. He noticed Mjolnir laying near his feet and the specks of blood on the walls.

Darcy sobbed softly into his chest as he looked at the others for some answers.

Then he felt it.

A strange painful stinging across his skin. Magic. He remembered a warning  _'...there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where he can't find you...'_ and a chill colder than the touch of a frost giant went down his spine. He had been found and they were going to use Thor as bait. They must have used Jane to bait Thor.

_'He will make you long for something as sweet as pain.'_

"Loki?" Darcy looked up at him with watery eyes. The others were watching him too.

"This is my fault." He shook his head. 

Everyone watched him.

"They are using Thor to draw me out."

Steve stepped towards him. "Do you know where-"

"No. I have to go alone. I am who they want."

Darcy's voice was soft. "I'm going with you." 

"You are definitely  _not_  coming along."

"They have Jane!"

"And I promise to bring her back in one piece, but you are safer here, my love."

"I'm going with you."

"No, you are not."

"Yes I am."

"No."

Everyone was silent as they watched the exchange.

" _Loki_." Darcy whined.

Loki grit his teeth. "No." He backed up a step and Darcy scowled at him. "I need to prepare, if you'll excuse me." Darcy grabbed his arm before he could disappear, forcing him to bring her back to his apartment with her.

The team stood watching the spot the couple had just been standing in, trying to sort out the events of the morning.


	19. Chapter 19

Loki had been searching for Thor and Jane from his apartment for the pass three days.

Which was so much more difficult when Darcy was constantly at his side and asking questions.

"Why don't you go hang off an Avenger? They're searching for them too." He stared into a pot of water that he was using a sort of telescope to the nine realms and beyond. It was one of the first tricks he learned, and he had used mostly to spy on the victims of his many pranks. He was sure he looked somewhat mad staring into a pot of water, occasionally murmuring a spell to see something more clearly, but it was the best way to try to locate his brother.

"We both know how that's gonna work out." Loki smirked at her. Their technology was no where near advanced enough to detect the traces of power they left behind.

Or didn't leave behind. Loki hadn't found a single trace of anything that resembled the magic at Jane's apartment. It was a ransom note,  _a warning_. Thanos had found him and was going to make Loki regret not getting him the tesseract.

Then, something came to Loki. He slapped his forehead. "Dammit! Why didn't I think of that before!?"

"What is it, sweetie?" 

"I can use Thor's magic to locate where they are. Why hadn't I thought of it before? I know his as well as I know mine."

"But, Thor doesn't have magic?"

He looked at her incredulously. "He uses a hammer to summon storms and fling himself about. How is that not magic?"

"Oh, yeah... But he doesn't have his hammer?"

"The magic is still there, less strong, but still there." He looked into the bowl again, began murmuring the spell with a slight change and it suddenly became so perfectly clear to him. First thing he could detect was that they were still in the nine realms. A major relief to Loki, travels outside the realms were difficult and somewhat traumatic.

Next was finding the silvery grey threads of his brother's magic and following them. That took longer, a few hours by his estimation. Darcy had fallen asleep on his shoulder and had been drooling on him for at least the past hour. But then he found the threads floating on the cosmos, he grabbed hold with his magic and followed the path they made.

Right into Jotunheim.

_Shit._

\---

Loki appeared out of thin air in the meeting room the Avengers had congregated in with a sleepy Darcy in tow, setting her into a nearby chair before annoucing his arrival by clearing his throat. Their weary heads all sprang up and looked to him.

"I have located them."

Steve sat up straighter, looking hopeful. "That's great! That means we can go-" Loki stopped him, lifting his hand.

"They are in Jotunheim. It would be dangerous for your team to come along. I have come to tell you that I've found them and will be leaving in the morning. I have located the area they are in but not the exact spot. It will be a bit of a journey."

Steve attempted to chime in again "But Thor is our fri-"

"Thor and Jane will be fine. They are using Thor to draw me out. And they used Jane to get Thor's complacency. They really want me."

"Who's this 'they' you keep talking about?" Tony asked from behind a mug of coffee.

"'They' are the ones I made deals with. They are a bit angry about me not holding up my end of the bargain." Loki laughed humorlessly.

Everyone was silent.

"I'm going with."

Loki grit his teeth. "We talked about this. You are not going with. Especially not now."

Darcy crossed her arms around her chest and opened her mouth to protest, but Loki answered before she could say anything. "No."

"But Jane's like my sister." She said meekly.

Loki hissed, "but she isn't."

"It's not like Thor is your actual brother either." His eyes widened and his nostrils flared.

He leaned down and stared at her with wide, angry eyes. "That is a low blow Darcy."

Darcy lifted her chin, which had began to quiver a bit.

Clint leaned over to whisper into Natasha's ear, "I'm pretty sure Loki is gonna cave."

Natasha nodded, "she's gonna turn on the waterworks any second now." As if on cue a single tear rolled down Darcy's cheek and Loki backed away, visibly shrinking. 

"Stop that. Stop it right now!" Loki pointed an accusatory finger at Darcy, whose head fell into her hands as she began sobbing quietly. 

Natasha leaned over to Clint again. "He's done for."

"If he ever decides to do the whole world domination thing again we can just have Darcy start crying." Clint added.

Loki knelt in front of Darcy, petting her hair softly. "I-I can't. It's too dangerous. Darcy, please stop crying."

Darcy looked up at him, eyes filled with tears and sniffling pitifully. "Please, Loki?"

Loki felt his once iron resolve begin to crumble. Dammit. He looked around at the Avengers who were watching them and grabbed Darcy's hands. "Let us disscuss this somewhere private." They vanished and the team was silent for a few moments before Tony spoke up.

"You know, Loki never struck me as the kinda guy that was swayed by a crying women."


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY LOOK A NEW CHAPTER! I'd give you my excuses but you don't care. I just hope I made up for the wait with this chapter.
> 
> And I'm gonna try to get this updated at least once a week. Expect updates on fridays, saturdays or sundays. Cool? Cool.
> 
> ON WITH THE FIC!

Landing in Jotunheim was a little more disorientating than Darcy had imagined. Well, Loki had warned her, but what did he know? Besides, you know,  a lot.

As she fell to the ground and heaved her swirling brain registered something else. It was cold. Really fucking cold. Colder than Wisconsin in January. Colder than the South Pole at any freaking time. Holy Christ, her lungs were freezing. Her nostrils were frozen. Loki had warned her about this too. But stupidly she insisted on going. She even cried until she got her way(Natasha knows all the best manipulation tactics). As she gasped and shivered, oh dear god her lungs were actually freezing, she felt a cold hand on her neck and then blissful warmth spread through her body. She inhaled deeply until her head stopped spinning and her vision was back to normal.

"Told you." She could hear the smirk in his voice.

She turned to look at him and her eyebrows shot up her forehead. "You're blue!?"

He looked down at himself and sighed, "well, yes, seeing as I nearly destroyed their world and killed their king in my Asgardian form, I figured my natural form would be a bit better cover. Although with you around, I guess it doesn't help much."

Darcy nodded, staring at his different, but still very Loki, face. Very pretty. Well, okay, the red eyes were a bit unsettling, but Darcy could look over that. He squirmed under her scrutiny.

"I'm sorry. I'd rather you didn't have to see me like this." He shifted his weight on his feet and looked annoyed suddenly. "Could you at least say something? This is not a good time to have second thoughts on our relationship." He snapped as he turned and began walking away.

"I like it." She said as she finally got back onto her feet, nausea and shock finally gone. He turned slowly on his heal, looking at her incredulously. She smiled and shrugged in her giant, neon orange, puffy coat.

His mouth hung open and his brows furrowed in confusion as he watched her for a moment. His face went to a look of cool indifference as he turned back around and started walking. "You may change your mind if we come across another of my kind."

Darcy rolled her eyes and ran to catch up to him.

Stupid smurf Loki and his stupid long legs.

\--

Loki swears that the Norns listen to what he says and make them happen just to torture him more. He shimmers his Asgardian clothing away and changes into a tattered loincloth and calmly approaches the two frost giants who are currently examining and discussing his Darcy, she dangles helplessly from one of their fists, shrieking as they poke and shake her. 

"Pardon, but she is with me." He hunches and speaks meekly. One of the giants looks down at him and grunts.

"Leave, runt." He goes back to poking at Darcy's coat, she screams, but to Loki's relief, says nothing to him.

Loki straightens up a bit and his voice is firmer this time when he speaks, "I will not. Not without her."

The to two giants look at eachother and laughed. "Look, the little runt wants his mortal toy back!" One cackled. 

The other who held Darcy dangled her above his head and shook her violently, causing her to scream louder this time. "Take her then, runt."

Loki smiled. "I will." Loki blasted the Jotunns wrist, making him let go of Darcy, who dropped into Loki's arms, and recoiled back. He set Darcy down on the ground behind him just as the two giants came to attack. There was a flurry of bright beams of magic and shards of ice flew through the air, grunts and screams filled the other wise silent valley they were in. 

And then suddenly there was silence again. Loki stood between the two still bodies panting for breathe and spattered with Jotunn blood. He turned and walked to the stunned looking Darcy, pulling her up and dragging her away quickly.

He stopped suddenly, eyeing her orange coat before tearing it off her. She yelped and looked at him, mouth gaped open in shock. "Excuse me!?"

"You already stick out like... a Midgardian in Jotunheim, the coat was not helping us. I made sure you'd be warm enough anyways." He began walking again.

"I liked that coat, asshole!" She said indignantly.

He rolled his eyes and looked back at her. "You shouldn't have, and I should kill the man who dared to make a garment that would make something so that you could hide your body in such a garish way. Now, are you coming? Or do you wish to be found by some more frost giants?"

She huffed and stomped after him and he didn't even try to stifle the laugh that bubbled up.

\---

They had set up camp in one of the many caves they found. Well, Loki had done most of the setting up. Darcy watched.

Now they sat on either side of a fire in silence as Loki looked into his magical pot and whispered sweet nothings into it. Darcy was getting fidgety. She wished she had her ipod. Why hadn't she brought it with? Loki probably told her not too. Stupid Loki.

She should probably stop thinking that all the time, shouldn't she? They were like a couple and everything now. Couples probably didn't think that they were stupid, right? 

Whatever. He ruined her coat and she didn't have her ipod. He was stupid for the time being.

Her focus went back to the stupid man... giant... god... whatever, sitting across from her. He looked tense. Like he was about to explode at any moment. He won't admit it, but he's really freaked out. Suddenly he put the pot down and a look of relief washes over his face.

"I have located them, we are only about a day away." It was like, the tiniest bit of that tenseness had left him after finding out they weren't too far off. "You should go to bed now, we have a lot of traveling to do tomorrow and I will not have you dragging your feet."

Darcy scrunched her eyebrows. "But you should sleep too."

He shook his head. "I need to keep lookout, I can go without it for one night."

Darcy crossed her arms over her chest. "No."

Loki quirked an eyebrow at her. "No?"

"No." She said firmly. She turned and crawled over to the makeshift bed made up of a mat and some blankets, crawling under and patting the empty space next to her. 

" _Darcy_." He sounded exasperated.

"I won't sleep if you won't."

"I'd like to see you try..."

"You don't even wanna know how many all-nighters I've pulled, Loki." She pat the mat again.

Loki sighed, probably deciding to indulge her until she fell asleep, got up and walked over to the bed. He stood there for a moment, sighed again and laid down next to her. She scooched up beside him, his body stiffened as she wrapped an arm around him.

"What are you doing?" He asked, voice tight.

"Snuggling with my boyfriend in my time of need. My friends have been kidnapped, I'm on a foreign realm, and I was tossed around by a couple of it's residents. I need stability." She nuzzled his shoulder, he was still tense.

"Two if those are your fault, darling. And I'm... I'm..."

"Blue?"

"You shouldn't like me this way, Darcy."

"Actually, I shouldn't have liked you  _any_  way, but look how good I was at  _that_." She sat up, throwing a thigh over him and straddling his mostly bare hips and began pulling layers of clothes off. He looked shocked, and almost a bit offended.

" _Now_ , really? Thor and Jane are being held captive and  _now_  you want to have sex!?"

Darcy wriggled out of her final shirt and leaned forward, kissing Loki softly. "This has all been very life-affirming. I mean, we could die tomorrow, may as well live it up tonight, you know?" She wasn't sure if it was her logic or her breasts that were finally breaking Loki down but she took it as a good sign that he was beginning to relax under her. She leaned down a bit more and whispered into his ear, "and the fact that you've been walking around in a loincloth has been making me think very naughty thoughts." 

He pushed her up by the shoulders and looked at her desperately, his eyes an even darker red than before. He asked a bit breathlessly, "you want me like this?"

She nodded, biting her bottom lip.

"Truly?" He really wasn't getting it, was he?

"Loki, my blue raspberry flavored popsicle, I would still bang you if you were cover in orange scales and had a tongue made of fire... I mean, I wouldn't let you go down on me like that, but all the other stuff would be fair game." His eyes widened a bit and he pulled her down for a hard kiss, flipping them over so he was on top of her and then she felt the tingle of her remaining clothes disappearing off her body. She sighed as his mouth down her neck to her breasts, his tongue still felt a bit chilly even with whatever spell he put on her to keep her warm and it gave her goosebumps with each swipe over her skin.

She ran her fingers over the lines that made patterns along his arms and shoulders. Digging her nails in when his teeth bit gently on one of her nipples. He hissed and they both froze.

He looked up at her, panting heavily. "If you want this to last a reasonable amount of time, you might not want to keep doing that." She bit her lip and slowly raked her nails down his biceps. His eyes fluttered shut and he moaned loud enough that it echoed along the icy walls of the cave.

"Foolish, love. Very foolish." He kissed her hard again, all tongues and teeth as he entered her in one quick thrust. Darcy gasped and clawed into his back as he drove into her over and over again. Their moans filled the cave and most likely woke up a few sleeping beasts, but they continued unbidden. Long minutes passed as Loki continued to thrust hard and fast into Darcy, who managed to meet his frantic rhythm.

She could feel her orgasm building and moved a hand between them, but Loki's hand wrapped around her wrist, and growl, stopped her. He put her hand back on his shoulder before sliding his hand down her stomach until he reached her clit, playing with it between his fingers. She nearly screamed at the sensations that were overwhelming her.

Just moments later, she did scream when the pleasure pooling up inside her finally burst. She came hard, nails scraping all the way down his back on either side of his spine, making Loki growl and climax suddenly, his hips stuttering until he finally finished.

He collapsed on top of her and they laid there, tangled in a boneless heap for a few minutes until Loki finally had enough energy to roll off her. He looked relaxed and calm as he pillowed an arm under his head. Darcy grinned and snuggled against him.

"You look very pleased with yourself." 

"I like that I can make you come undone with just my nails when you're like this." She traced one of the lines on his abs with a fingertip.

"You really do like me like this, don't you?" His voice was quiet, still a bit disbelieving.

She looked up at him, grin still plastered on her face. "Of course."

He huffed a laugh, looking up at the icicle covered ceiling and murmured, "strange girl..."

She kissed the bit of blue skin closest to her lips, then shifted a few inches downward, then a few more, she was near his belly button when his voice stopped her.

"What are you doing?"

She kissed his stomach before looking back up and winking at him. "What made you think I was any where near done with you?"

Loki laughed, running his fingers through his disheveled hair and sighing as her lips got closer to their destination.

"Strange, strange girl..."


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is terrible and I'm sorry to anyone who's been waiting for this.
> 
> So sorry.

The trek was long and difficult and Darcy complained the whole time they were travelling.

She stopped when they stopped at the mouth of a huge, icy cave.

Darcy swallowed hard. “You think…?”

“There isn’t anything else for miles. It has to be.” Loki held his hand out to Darcy and she took it eagerly, they slowly walked into the cave together.

They walked through the eerily silent cave for a long time, the only sound coming from their footsteps. Until the silence was broken by the sound of sniffling.

“No need to cry, darling. At least not yet.” 

“What? That’s not me.”

They stopped. Frozen until they heard another sniff, and then a whimper.

“Jane!” Darcy shouted, letting go of Loki’s hand and running blindly further into the darkness of the cave. Loki was quick to follow her, forming a bright torch in his hand to light the way.

“Jane! It’s Darcy! Talk to me, boss!” Darcy spun, searching the seemingly endless cavern for her friend.

“Darcy!? Darcy! I can’t see you! It’s too dark.” Jane’s voice bounced off the walls in every direction, making it impossible to track her by sound alone.

“Loki,” Darcy pleaded, looking frantic.

A bit nervously, he brightened the light until Jane appeared, caged into a dark corner by shards of ice. Her small body shivering, eyes puffy and red, tear tracks drying on her flushed cheeks.

“Jane!” Darcy and Loki ran up to her, Loki shattering the ice to crumbles, and the to women hugged each other as if they might not ever let go.

Loki grabbed Jane’s shoulder, sending warmth into her shaking body, he wondered how she even managed to survive the cold. “Jane, do you know where Thor is?”

Jane choked back a sob. “I don’t know. I couldn’t see…” She sobbed into Darcy’s shoulder, the other woman doing her best to soothe her.

Loki growled and walked away, pushing a hand through his hair. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself and trying to see if he could sense his brothers presence somewhere in the cave. After what felt like an eternity of nothingness a faint trail flickered in his mind, leading down a dark hole in the side of the cave.

“I know which way to go,” he stated simply. He thought for a moment, wondering how to proceed. “Follow me closely, and if I tell you to do something, do it and do not ask questions. Clear?” He didn’t hear a response, but as he began walking he could hear the shuffle of footsteps behind them, gentle huffs of breath as they tried to keep up with his fast strides.

Their footsteps bounced off the dark walls of the cave, making Loki anxious and tense. He tried desperately to think positively, to not think of the various ways Thor could be horribly maimed and tortured.

He was having a hard time with it.

He slowed nearly to a halt when he heard a soft, muffled groan in the distance, Jane and Darcy bumping into his back at the same time.

“What is it?” Darcy asked softly.

“I heard something.” He heard two sharp intakes of breath behind him. He crept forward slowly, moving closer to a erratic blue flicker of light towards in front of them.

They walked at a snail’s pace, until Loki could just barely make out the outline of a figure slumping over an icy boulder. He quickly turned to Darcy and Jane, trying to keep his voice low and even as he spoke to them. 

“Stay against the wall here, do not move, and do not look in here, understood.” They both nodded slowly, eyes wide and scared looking as the huddled against the wall.

He walked towards the figure quickly. “Thor?” 

Thor huffed and shifted around frantically, trying to find Loki in the darkness, then, a drip fell from somewhere in the dark shadowy ceiling, landing on Thor’s back and making the skin bubble and blister anywhere it touched. Thor screamed into the gag in his mouth and twisted helplessly in his restraints, Loki ran the rest of the way to him, dropping down next to him and watching the skin continue to ripple from the poison. Loki tore at the gag in Thor’s mouth, tossing it aside.

“Loki, they have Jane-” Thor croaked.

“I found her, she is fine.” Thor sighed in relief. Loki began tugging at the restraints on Thor’s wrists, proving to be much harder to release, even with magic.

“It seems your former allies have been reading the stories the humans have written about us,” Thor said, Loki could almost hear the dopey grin on Thor’s face. 

“And you want to  _protect_  them,” Loki scoffed, “fool.”

Another drop fell with a plop, Thor pained groans unhindered by the gag now. Loki worked harder at trying to release the restraints.

Thor panted as the pain seemed to slowly subside. “I do enjoy being a fool.”

“I  _knew_  it.”

They both laughed as Loki finally was able to release Thor’s wrists, Thor quickly pushing himself off the chunk of ice and enveloping Loki in a tight hug. Loki returned it carefully, being sure to not touch his back.

“I’m sorry, brother.” Loki whispered.

Thor’s arms tightened around him. “You did not know this would happen.”

“I should have.”

“I was beginning to think you wouldn’t show up, Loki.” Thor and Loki turned to Thanos, who stood at another entrance to the cave, The Other close by, holding a torch. “Sorry to ruin the moment.”


End file.
